The Files Under Viaduct
by TheLuckyStapler
Summary: The only survivor of an attack arrives to Viaduct, and uncovers what was meant to be hidden. /OC femMedic/
1. Arrival

Madeline stared out the window through her round glasses, long brown hair in a low ponytail. It had been hours since she left her hometown on this deep blue colored train, heading for wherever her ticket said she was going. She began dozing when she realized it was snowing. Eventually the whole ground was white. Great, she thought. Snow. She hated the cold. It was absolute Hell for her, being cold or wet, or even worse, both.

She saw a sign out of the window, "Viaduct; the land of snow and trees!" It said. It was riddled with bullet holes and blood splatter. Lovely, she thought, just lovely.

Such a welcoming sign for her beginning of her future with BLU.

Madeline jumped at the sudden jerk her whole train cart made. She thought to herself, trains do NOT do that. She peered out of the door, into the hallway. She was the only one on this one, other supplies were on others. There were several seats separated by small rooms and doors, and there were a few others on this cart. She didn't know about any others though, she didn't see many people board.

Minutes passed, and the train jerked again, slowing down majorly after throwing her into her seat. She looked around, panicking, when a guy aged a few years younger than her pounded his fist on her window.

"You okay! Hey, we gotta get offa this train! We gotta get off!" He yelled, gray eyes huge. The tracks below them groaned eerily before explosions were heard. Several more smaller explosions bombarded the sides of the train carts ahead, and one by one, every cart tipped on a side. The last thing Madeline felt was her head slamming into the glass window behind her.

* * *

She awoke to the cold. Snow blew into her face, the wind and snow had picked up, stronger and heavy. She stood up, wobbling and feeling lighter as the snow fell off her. It surprised Madeline how much fell to the ground. She looked around, the train was in ruins. She could see the makeout of things buried under the snow. She yelled out, "Anyone? Help!" but all that was returned to her was her echo. Surrounded by trees and snow, she wrapped her white coat around her, and followed the tracks.

It was the warmest part of the day, though it didn't help with the cold at all for Madeline. She kept her eyes on the tracks, shuffling her feet through snow to make sure she stayed on tracks, till she could see buildings though the dying snow.

She forced herself to go on even more, her cheeks and fingers became red, and she shook with the cold. She noticed the buildings were larger up close, but they were down in a flat area past a rocky slope.

She grasped a rough edge and slid herself down the side, feet firmly on the rock jutting out underneath her. She leaned down to slide to the next rock over, but just as one foot reached down to the next boulder, she lost her grip, and she slipped down the rocky slope.

Madeline forced herself to get up. She looked at a fence with litter surrounding it, and crawled to it. she gripped the chain-link, weakly pushing through the two separated parts, only linked together by a couple of wooden boards she could step over. She pushed between them, hearing fabric rip as her sleeve caught on the ends of wire, and collapsed on the snow of the other side.

She could hear men yelling. Explosions, too, and gunshots fired. She looked up, and saw the BLU logo, it matched the one on the envelope, and the ticket, and in the letter. As the sounds of yelling, announcements, and weaponry ceased, she passed out in the snow.

* * *

"'Ey! 'Ey, wake up."

She grumbled. Her face was wet, her body heat melted the snow she lay in. She looked up to have the sun blind her, and someone stood in front of her, his face shadowed. He leaned down and brushed the snow out of her hair.

"What's a miss like you doin' out 'ere?" He said, voice thick with accent.

Madeline's vision went blurry, and she let her head drop back into the snow again.

"Tch, great. Medic!" He yelled, adjusting his hat. The Medic ran over, supplies on his back, and helped Sniper pull the girl inside the base.

"Vhat is zhis girl doing here?" Medic asked him, pointing to a spare bed for her to use.

"Loik I know that, Doc'," Sniper said. "That train was 'ppost t' arrive this mornin' 'nd it's afta' ceasefire."

"Tch, ve needed zhose recruits today! Ve lost too many men today, I did not see either spies return, and ve lost a few scouts and a pyro." The medic rubbed his temples. "Zhis girl better know zomething about zhat train!"

Medic ordered the Sniper to leave, and to have someone bring him a sandwich later on if someone could. The australian left, mumbling about how he should get his own damn sandwich, when he ran into a scout.

Scouts here usually all came from poor new yorker families, so with a big accent, "Hey! where's some of the other scouts? Been looking for the guys to play some ball with, and-"

"Boy, some of th' scouts died out there," Sniper sighed. "So, they're prolly dead." He continued past Scout, leaving him jaw agape and eyes wide.

* * *

She groaned, feeling herself become more conscious, and felt a hand press against her forehead. One eye opened, but her vision was blurry due to her glasses missing.

"Where am I?" She asked. The older Medic explained she was found in the snow nearby, and that she was at the Red base.

"Vhe found a ticket," He started. "Vith zhe BLU logo on it. You are zupposed to be here?"

"Apparently; I got that in the mail." She said. BLU logo, blue train, BLU base? Made enough sense to her.

"Vhat happened to zhe train?" He asked.

She felt nervous, he suddenly had a more serious tone.

"I, I don't know..." She said. "There was a guy telling me we needed to get off the train, and a few other people left my cart a-and there were explosions. T-the train rolled off the tracks, t-that's all I remember..." She breathed, trying to calm down. "Did anyone find anyone else out there?"

"No one alive, so far." He said, curtly. "Ve found that Scout you mentioned, only one vas supposed to be on zhat train. He froze to death, trying to get here. Zhe poor boy almost made it too.

"Any others?"

"Vhe do not know yet, I sent comrades to find zhe train."

"Doktor! Vhere is train? I am so hungry." boomed a voice, causing Madeline to jump in bed. A large figure walked in, at first glance, she thought it was a bear!

"Ach, Heavy! Has anyone unaccounted for returned yet?" The Medic asked the giant man. Madeline hid in the covers, he was giant, and his voice startled her. She watched him straighten up, expecting a calmer tone.

But no, not the case, ever, with this man.

"NO DOKTOR! NO ONE COME BACK, AND NO FOOD. VHERE IS TRAIN, DOKTOR?" His voice echoed out of the room.

The medic patted him on the elbow, already knowing he couldn't reach his shoulder. "Zhere, zhere, take a seat. I'll tell you about the train."

Madeline watched in confusion and fright as a giant man in a war was bawling over the loss of the train. As the Heavy left, Sniper returned, sandwich in hand. He gave half to the Heavy before making his way to medic, dropping it on his clipboard.

"'ere, Doc', your damn sandwich." He said, smirking.

"Unsanitary." Medic said, in a sneering, displeased tone.

The sniper ignored his griping, and grabbed a chair to sit nearby the new recruit.

"SO! Lived through a RED attack on our trains, you're already a marvel to us all, lady." He removed his hat, placing it on his lap. "Where ya' from?"

"Er, Pennsylvania." She said. "So, what is my job here?"

"That's generally decided by a mix o' what we need and what ya' skills are." He grinned. "Wot were ya' doin' before gettin' th' ticket?"

"I was finishing Med school." She said.

"...You are a doctor?" The Medic said, brushing crumbs off his keyboard, sandwich discarded. "Bah. Ve do not need more medics. I und ze ozer are enough!"

"Hey! I was top of my class!" She yelled, flustered by the fact she nearly died, surrounded by men she didn't know in a unfamiliar building.

The medic that complained about having another medic pushed his fingertips to his temples. "Ah... Zhere is nothing ve can do about it now."

"So, can someone explain what I'll be doing?" She asked again. "I'm guessing just helping wounded after the little battles?" The sniper choked on air.

"'Little battles'?" He said, after catching his breath. "Miss, yer' inna full-out war! Even th' medics are out in th' field killin' folks."

"Wha? I didn't go to medical school to-" She complained, before being cut off.

"I'll show you around und get you your battlements." The medic said, moving to one of the many cabinets. Madeline sat up in bed, and then had some sort of gun shoved in her arms. "Zhis is the mini medigun. I have two of zhem, zhey normally hang from zhe ceiling to heal patients overnight or vhen I am away. It should be light enough for you to use. Do not break it."

"Oh, well, glad I can at least heal people." She said. She studied the gun, they definetly didn't say about any technology like this in college.

"Jus' make sure ya' don't 'eal any of them REDs, eh?" Sniper chuckled.

"REDs?" She asked. "The rival team?"

"Could say that, yeah." Medic said. "Zhey have... remarkably good counterparts to us. Like clones. And no doubt zhey have a match for you too, frauline."

"Just remember, miss," Sniper said, as he departed for the door. "Always kill the doctor."

* * *

Lucky for her she had the time to learn her way around, for it was a ceasefire. She got several work uniforms, which would have to be her everyday clothes, since she didn't bother to dig for her suitcase in the snow, though Medic told her if it could be salvaged, when the BLU team went through the wreckage that they would bring it to her. She spent a day modifying the clothes to be more snug, loose clothes were a hazard. for the white overcoat, she made a hole in the belt given to her, so it would fit right.

It hurt at first, but her arms got accustomed to carrying the Mini Medigun. She saw the ones belonging to the male Medics and she was glad to get a mini; they had to be three times bigger, and she didn't know how much heavier.

She also quickly learned three things:

Heavies are scary.

Snipers are disgusting.

Scouts are annoying.

She tried to avoid grouping the classes as if they were a whole person, but it was hard to help it. All the Scouts were annoying fast-talkers and fast-walkers.

"Yo, we don't need no ladies on dis' team, a'ite?" He grumbled. She ignored him, and continued sorting through files. They captured all of Viaduct before her arrival, but she was in charge of sorting the information. Since there was no fighting, she had to start work immediately, at least do something to help the BLU cause.

She was through a decent amount of the papers, sorted the blueprints for the engineer and odd encrypted information for the spy, when a ringing alarm echoed through the building. A Soldier ran by, yelling at hte top of his lungs, and several footsteps followed.

"The REDs are advancing, the REDs are advancing, maggots!" He called out. She gathered the papers, and looked quickly for a safe place for them, and decided under the floorboard would be a decent place, for the time being. She followed the footsteps, and everyone was bathering in the doorway, the only BLU Sniper in Viaduct pointing into the distance.

"Saw 'em through me own scope, mates, we got t' take 'em out." He said.

"Ja! Let us go!" Medic yelled. He looked over his shoulder, holding up the full-sized medigun. "Heavy!" His called-out comrade came to the front, and with the german's medigun beam on him, the two paved the way for the rest, as Sniper headed for the loft of the wooden building ahread. Madeline found herself in the back of the pack, with the BLU Pyro.

"Mmph mmh hmm hu hudda mphh?" He said to her. She stared, and just gave a confused nodd, and followed him as he charged head-long into the fight, not knowing what she just answered. She stayed close to him, making sure to stay behind him. She looked up to the ledge, and with a flash of red flying into the sky, she called out to him.

"Pyro! No! Watch o-" Several blinking grenades landed at her feet, She stepped back from the bombs, they seperated her from the still-charging Pyro. Madeline jumped behind a boulder jutting out, clinging the mini-medigun to her torso. Flinching as the explosion happened, and peeking around to make out fighting through the smoke and snow.

She lost the Pyro. Her team's demoman stumbled in front of her, pushing himself against the wall next to her, and she could hear him muttering medic. The young medic helped him to the ground, and put her tiny medigun on him.

"Hold on, hold you, you'll be okay in just a minute or two." She told him. She pulled out an arrow before the flesh healed around it. She heard slow footsteps crunching through the snow, growing louder as it came closer. Madeline looked up to see the RED Medic coming towards her.

She looked around her, and saw Soldier and Scout taking cover together to reload. "Sorry to pass the buck," She thought, knowing full well that Medic was aiming to kill her first. "Kill the doctor first" she thought. Her enemy was following the same advice. She pushed the nearly healed demoman towards Soldier and Scout. "Cover him!"

She forced herself up, pulling out a sharpened saw, but as soon as she was straight, she found herself pinned to the boulder wall. The RED medic had her arm pressed hard against her chest, her legs blocked by the enemy's, with a syringe to her neck. As Madeline's eyes locked with her counterparts, a gunshot fired, cauing her to flinch. Madeline took the chance, flight or fight; she chose flight. She stumbled through the snow, one hand on her neck from the scratch the syringe gave.

The counterpart RED held her shoulder, and gave a look to Madeline, also looking over her shoulder while laying in the snow, still holding her neck. Blood seeped through her white coat, as she back away. Madeline grabbed her saw from the white snow, and noticed battle was ceasing.

She could hear her name being called, but couldn't tell from where it came from. Her vision was shaking, and weakly, she fell into the snow.

"Medic! MEDIC!" She shrieked over, and over again, each more panicked than the last. She felt herself rolled on her back, felt fingers brush hair, snow, and rubble from her face.

"She's bleedin' from her neck, man."

"Her eyes are dialated.."

"Looks loik she's havin' a heart attack, doc'!"

"Ees leetl girl okay?"


	2. To Learn More

She groaned. Madeline forced her eyes open, and proceded to stretch her stiff arms and back. "What happened? Did we win?"

"Ja, no thanks to you." Medic said, in a stern tone. "You moved zhe injured Demoman to me, und zhen you let zheir RED Medic get zhe better of you. Zhe RED team medic had adreneline in her syringes, you are lucky you were barely punctured." He rubbed his temples. "If she got even one-fourth of zhat dose in you, your heart vould have exploded."

"Don't take 'im too hard, miss." Sniper said, appearing on her left. "That lady medic they got is one nasty piece o' work, we're happy you're alive. Last one she got ahold of didn't make it."

Madeline felt her hands shake. It was her first battle, sure enough. "Her... her eyes," She whispered.

"Yeah, loik a wild animal, roight?" Sniper said, pulling out a mug and drinking deep from it. "Best be careful o' that. She ain't afraid to rip all ya' organs out. If she wants ya' dead, she's makin' sure ya' have a closed casket funeral, if you're lucky enough that she leaves any of ya'."

"...Right. Well, I need to get back to my room, I'm not finished sorting out papers." She pulled herself from the bed.

"Ah, make sure you give zhe proper materials to zhe proper people." Medic said, as she exited the doors.

She closed her bedroom door behind her, and pulled up a floorboard, and reached in with a blue gloved hand to pull out papers.

"Ah, still here." She smiled, and put them on her desk so she could replace the board. When done, she sat down, and got to work. "Lets see, that's a basic sentry design, a copy of how teleporters work..." She sifted through the technological blueprints.

But quickly, things went from mechanical to biological.

"This is stuff I'd give to Medic..." She said. "That's strange...experiments? Drug testing, I'm sure." She thought it through. Drugs to help build muscle mass, improve metabolism, maybe. But as she opened the manila folders, and sifted through the interior files and photos, she found it to be something much worse.

"T-the men... these photos..." She closed the folder, gathering any with a similar tab and titled "Experiment" compiled with it, and slipped them between two books on her bookshelf.

* * *

She thought out who she should talk to first. Clearly in the photos there were medics involved, but it couldn't be the current Medic could it? Sure, he was one of the oldest people on BLU but these were really old photographs. She thought out it might be best to talk to the classes in the picture, but she couldn't tell who was what. Madeline could hardly bring herself to glance at the pictures again.

She decided she would talk to one who loves information; The Spy.

Madeline caught him on his smoke break with the Sniper, both wearing scarves and standing right outside the wooden door. "Spy? I need to speak to you. Privately." The two looked at her, and Sniper offered to hold his teammates cigarrete, only to see him flick it out into the snow.

"Non. Jou will not be smoking any of mine." He said clearly, as he followed Madeline inside. "Now, what did jou need from moi?"

"I was sorting through the files," She started. "The Engineer has his blueprints, the Medic has the enemy profiles."

"So? Ees this a waste of my time?" Spy said, impatiently. "I 'ave no business with blueprints and medical information."

"Well, that's the thing, I found medical photos. Of the BLU team." She explained further. "And they're not pretty."

"Wait, BLU team photos in the papers we took from RED?" He was surprised. "Zhat is quite stupid. Both sides keep zhat information seperate. What are ze photos of?"

"BLU members," She took a deep breath. "Horribly mutilated from the waist down." Both grew quiet, but the Spy regained his posture.

"I am sure eet was just zome past members who 'ad their legs blown off, Madeline." He said. Madeline pulled out a worn-out photograph, folded in half, and handed it to him. He opened it, only to quickly close it, and hand it back to her. He fixed his tie, brushed wrnkles from his coat, and walked past her.

She whipped around. "Spy! Do you know anything about this?" And with no reply, she opened the photo. It was a man chained to a medical cot, several tubes in his neck and arms. The matress under him was soaked with blood, along with the neatly wrapped bandages around his waist. He looked like he was unconscious, or asleep. A Medic was standing next to the cot when this photo was taken.

"Stage one..." Madeline whispered, reading the bottom right corner, 'Stage One' was written in thin black ink. She retreated to her room, and pulled the yellow file out from between the books, the one that contained the 'Stage One' photo.

She thought the first photo was bad. They quickly grew worse over very few photos. The file labled 'RzUYW3ZWs' drew her in the most. Compared to the few other files, 'RzUYW3ZWs' lived the longest. She could barely read the handwritten notes, but going by photos, only this one made it past 'Stage Two'. He had made it to, what she made out to be, 'Stage Six."

She flipped through pages kept together via paperclips. "Hm, RzUYW3ZWs, does it mean anything?" She sighed. "It has to. Nobody just writes nonsense on this this type of thing."

* * *

Days went by, and Madeline became more roped into reading the files she found. No one lived past 'Stage Two' except RzUYW3ZWs. She sat at the table, munching on toast as she read intently.

"Madeline?" the Scout waved his hand near her face. "Hey. Are ya' fuckin' braindead or something? Hey!" She looked up at him.

"Do you need something?" She said, agitated.

"You looked all dazed and shit, whatcha readin'?" He asked, leaning towards to folders.

"About a Spy, that used to be here. At least, I think he was here before," she explained. When Scout asked if he was reloacted, she just told him him that she suspected he died here in Viaduct.

"Damn, he's dead?" he asked. Madeline reminded him it was probable. "I'm hopin' no more BLUs here die, sure we gots two docta's an' all but thinkin' you guys will always be in time is stupid-thinkin'."

"Well, we try," Madeline smiled. "Both of us, we always try to help everyone in time." She stretched. "I've had my nose in those files for days, what's up with you and everyone else?"

"Uh? Well, Sniper got some mail from his Ma." He went on to explain that Sniper recieved a new scarf for his birthday, handmade by his mother, along with a letter asking when she would have any grandchildren. Madeline covered her mouth and snickered. "Poor ol' lady, dunno if ya know, Sniper was an only kid, and he don't plan on ever havin' any."

"What, you say that like you have kids, Scout," Madeline said. "Don't tell me you have any!"

"Pfft, nah, I got a few nephews though. I gots older brothas ya' know." He reminded her. "I doubt anyone here has any kids, an' if they do, I sure feel bad for 'em. Everyone here is nuts, ya know?"

"I'm sure anyone here could be a good father." Madeline said, in a semi-serious tone, and straightened herself in her chair. Scout cocked an eybrow. "...Okay, Soldier should never ever have children-he'd beat them half to death, then strangle them the rest of the way."

Madeline eventually closed the folder on the table, and the two talked for a long while longer till Madeline cracked first, and went to her room.

* * *

"Donc. Savez-vous quelque chose à ce sujet?"

"Non, désolé. Permettez-moi de convocation de Miguel. Il pourrait le faire savoir."

"Ah, Merci."

Madeline heard knocking at the door. Peeking out the tiny window, it was still dark out, nowhere near time to wake up. She ignored it, and pulled covers over her shoulder.

"Madame, wake up."

Her eyes shot open, and she wrapped her blanket around her. "Spy! Don't barge in my room like this! Jesus Christ!"

"Ah, I am sorry." He said. "I just wanted to let you know, I am gathering information for you."

"Informa- wait, wha?" She rubbed her eyes.

"Information," he repeated. "About your dead Spy. Ze title is encrypted, it is being worked on at zis very moment. I 'ave acquaintances wokring on all of ze information, to be compiled for jou, mademoiselle."

"How did you get the information to send out to your 'acquaintances'?" She yawned, before glaring at him. He dropped the file in her lap. "...How did you even get ahold of it?"

"You are not very good at 'iding such things, mademoiselle." He chuckled. She could smell he recently had a cigarrete. He even bothered to help, when he left her without answers before. "You 'aven't taken your nose out of those folders in days. You want to know what 'appened? You want ze answers? Cheri, I shall get ze answers, just for you."

She sat still, eyes wide and feeling bewildered as he let the back of his hand brush her thigh, as he grabbed the folder and kissed her on the cheek.

"Go back to sleep, petite cho-fleur." He said, and then he shut the door.

She slipped back under the covers. "Couldn't he just tell me this when I woke up?" she mused.


	3. Information and Sentries

"Vous l'avez?"

"Je fais, mon ami."

"Il a été chiffré?

"Oui, il traduit par 'Rousseau', mon ami."

"Rousseau? Un nom?"

"Oui, nous le croyons."

"Il doit être ... son nom."

Madeline sat at the table, pouring spoonfuls of sugar into her mug of coffee, while Sniper next to her was already downing his.

"So I hear you're having nothing to do with kids."

"Oh, Hell no. I'd probably kill one o' me own if I 'ad any. Wouldn't mean it, y'know, but it'd probably 'appen. Annoying ankle-biters aren't for me."

"Shame, heard your mother was hoping for grandchildren."

"...You keep me mum outta this."

Spy heard the whole conversation, but easily managed to make it look like he only just entered.

"Bonjour, Monseiur, Madame," he said. Sniper let out an annoyed grunt as he finished off his coffee, and Madeline gave a small wave.

"Spy, I've been meaning to ask, how goes the info-gathering?" Madeline asked. He grinned to her, and dropped a new folder, titled "Rousseau" in front of her.

"You're friend RzUYW3ZWs 'ad quite ze hidden trail," he said with a smile. "It was such a thrill for I and my acquaintances to track down."

"Thank you so much," she said, fingers touching the cover of the new folder. She was anxious and a little bit scared to finally find the answers.

"I shall warn you, petite," he said, growing serious. "Zhis 'ad a very covered up trail. It almost was not found." He put a hand on her cheek, and pulled her face to look at him. "I will not stop you, mon amour. But zhis was covered for a reason."

"A reason?" She opened the folder, flipping through the neatly written notes and sources.

Spy slinked his hand over hers, pressing gently till it was shut again. "I, ah, would read zis privately." He glanced at Sniper, who glared back. She looked at Sniper quickly, before her eyes returned to Spy, with a nod.

"Yeah, Spoy, I can tell ya' don't want me around." He said, blatantly. "Don't be an ass, you can ask me to leave."

"Uhm, I'm gonna go flip through these. I'll see you both later." She gathered the folder in her arms, and stepped out of the tension-filled room.

"Are you in love with ze girl, Assassin?" Spy's smile curled into an evil grin. "Do I 'ave...competition for ze heart?"

Sniper scratched the back of his head. "I thought Spoys weren't allowed to love."

"Us Spies live for breaking ze rules."

"So, that's why you're lettin' 'er lookin' into info that our contract says we shouldn't 'ave?" Sniper said, jaw dropped. "You're riskin' her life!"

"I was deported 'ere, jou know," Spy said. "Because I 'ad zat same information. And RED must 'ave gotten ahold of it. Zhat is why it was in REDs 'ands, when it was clearly BLU information."

"Then why don'tcha take it form her? Like the Spoy ya' are?" He growled. "Instead of risking 'er life, risk your own. She'll be deported to another base if this keeps going."

"Si je ne peux pas l'avoir..." Spy growled. "...If I can't 'ave 'er, neither shall you."

* * *

"Hm, Rousseau, is it?" she said to herself. She flipped through the papers. "So young... only twenty-two. And a Spy, as well." She lost her breath at the marked date. "This... the Stage Six photo," She held it to her face. The date marked on the back was exactly four months ago, nearly two months before she arrived to Viaduct. It was the picture of the man from the past photos, only much skinnier, more ragged and sick looking, and nothing but long and black colored appendages from the waist down.

Then there was yelling from the hallway.

"HEY! GIT BACK HERE, YA DARN CONTRAPTION!" Madeline ran to her door, only having to back away as the wood splintered. "STOP BEFORE I GO AND POWER YOU DOWN."

She pulled the door open as she heard electrical beeps and whirrs.

"Engineer?" She saw him look up, hands pressing down on a sentry.

"Good evening, miss," he said, nervously. "How are ya this fine night?"

"...Engineer, why are you messing with a sentry right outside my door?"

"A-ah'll be honestly with ya, miss." He pressed harder as the sentry whirred. "I was tinkerin' with those blueprints you got to me. Built in a new program, changed some of the wiring, that sorta deal."

"And?" She crossed her arms, and leaned over too look at the sentry. He slowly let go, and it revved its new wheels, and raced itself in a circle before stopping infront of Madeline's boots and the blue painted body rotated, and she could hear cameras focusing as it registered her. "...What is it?"

"It's a level 2 sentry if we're goin' by gunpower," he said. "But it's name is I.V.A.M.G."

"IVAM G?" Madeline said. "Please tell me its an acronym."

"It is, lil' lady." Engineer grinned. "He is the Interactive Vehicular Automated Machine Gun. IVAM G. Though IVAM works just fine."

"Is it remote controlled?" she asked as it drove in circles around her, beeping happily.

"Well, he's supposed to be." He held out a handle with buttons on it, meant to be held with one hand. It had a rectangular radar dish on it, with a center antenna shape. "Darn thing won't work." He slipped it into his back pocket.

"So, what is it supposed to do?" Madeline asked, prodding the blue casing, causing IVAM to whirr and jump.

"Patrol during battle, when there's less people in the building. He can carry decently heavy boxes, he likes to help bring me my tools." Engineer smiled. "He's been my pet project for awhile. I'm just upset the wrangler remote doesn't work on him. But essentially, I want him to just help around."

"It's so cute you keep referring to it as a him." She smiled back. "I like IVAM, hopefully he doesn't get broken too often."

"Like anythin' I make breaks," Engineer said proudly. Madeline reminded him his machines broke every so often, just he's always been around to fix them before they fully shut down. "Err, I reckon that's also right an' true." The two of them looked at IVAM, who looked back at them with his single camera eye.

"Uh, he's a sentry, you said?" Madeline said, noticing a blinking red light on the front plate of Ivam's main body.

"Sure is!" He can fire at-"

"Then why is he blinking?" Madeline pointed out the light.

"Oh! He's just in standby mode. So if someone from RED was in here right now, boy, they'd get a face full of bullets. Since it's late and safe..." He reached under the blue body of IVAM, and held down a button for a few seconds. The red light went out. "There. His two auto-turrets are locked, he couldn't fire if he wanted to."

"Really?" Madeline asked, amazed he throught of this safety procaution.

"IVAM, shoot Madeline." Engineer said with a grin.

"Wait, what?" She flailed her arms for cover, and realized all IVAM was doing was clicking, trying to fire, but failing to do so.

"Alright, IVAM, that's enough now, boy." He said, tapping his siding with a boot, and the little sentry went into a rest position. Madeline fixed her glasses.

"Couldn't you have given me a little warning?" she asked, brushing off her coat. He chuckled, before telling her he was going for some dinner and a beer, and that he'd see her around. "Oh, fine then. See you later."

She watched him dissapear around a corner, and heard a quiet whirr, followed by feeling a nudge. Madeline looked to see IVAM was still next to her. "IVAM, don't you need to go to the workshop? Engineer's room? Follow him?"

IVAM just stared at her with his one camera "eye".

She slinked back into her room, and IVAM was caught in her door when she attempted to shut him out. "I guess you won't tell anyone about my papers, you can't even speak." She opened the door just a little more, and IVAM rushed in as fast as a child on sugar, or Scout when he drinks his BONK! soda.

She sat at her table, and flipped through the notes. "Huh...so they were doing this to create underwater warfare? Bases were being made on the coast and at sea... So that's what they're doing out at Upward. We were told it was an oil rig..."


	4. Deported

"Madeline! MADELINE! YA' NEED T' OPEN THE DAMNED DOOR!"

The yelled put Madeline in a panic, and she rushed and threw open the door, where Sniper grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Madeline, I don't wanna scare ya', but BLU vans from corporate are comin' t' either deport ya' or kill ya' roight now." His voice shook. "Saw 'em through me scope, I know they're comin' for you."

"How do you know they're coming for me?" Madeline broke herself from his grip.

"Because ya' know about that damn Spoy!" he yelled. "I don't know why you're even lookin' at that information, I don't even know 'ow it got t' Viaduct, all I know is our Spoy is involved, 'e was the last one to mess with that file, an' then 'e was deported 'ere!"

"It's just information!" She said in a harsh tone.

"It's information they don't want you to 'ave!" Sniper sighed. "Spoy was roight though; it was covered up for a reason. Ya' need to stay. Out. Of it."

"Isn't it already too late, if they're coming for me?" Madeline's voice was breaking. She didn't want to have the ones signing her paychecks killing her.

"They're probably spare ya' if ya' give them all th' papers you have." Sniper rubbed the back of his neck. "Ya'll still prolly get deported, Madeline. Spy will too, bloody 'ell. I know the files are real, I'll prolly get fuckin' deported."

"Tell them you've never seen them!" Madeline suggested confidently. "You haven't seen them! Not one paper, I've kept them hidden, no one else kn-"

"Wot?" Sniper notcied her pause. She covered her mouth.

"...The Scout knows too." She shook. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Bloody fuckin' 'ell! Women can't keep their mouths shut, I swear!" He adjusted his hat and visors.

"I would have never dug into this if someone had told me it would get me killed!" That did it, a few tears slid down her cheeks, face red with frustration.

"Hey, fellar, ma'am," said a soft southern accent. They both looked out the doorway, open with the Engineer in nothing but a wifebeater and his boxers. "There's some men from BLU here, askin' for ya guys. What's goin' on here?"

Sniper left the room first, and Madeline, wiping her face, walked past the Engineer without looking at him.

Two men in dark blue tuxedos and dark sunglasses stood in the giant garage door, where supplies from the train came through.

"Yes, we're looking for your Sniper, Scout, Spy, and the youngest Medic," the one on the right said professionally.

The four stepped forward from the rest of the teammates.

"You have all seen or heard of certain...information," the left one said. "Information that was supposed to be exterminated from the Sawmills near Thunder Mountain." He glared at the Spy, who took a drag from his cigarrete. "What BLU higher-ups what to know is how that information is still existing, and how it made it to Viaduct, undetected."

"What can I say?" the Spy replied. "I am ze best of my kind."

"Do you want to tell us why you have that information, Spy?" The right one asked, in a demanding voice.

"Non," he replied, blowing out smoke. "Not particuarly, no." He grinned.

"Do you want to tell us how you managed to bring it with you to Viaduct?" he asked, becoming more angry.

Someone does not enjoy his job, Spy thought. "Non," he said to him. "What do you want me to do, tell everyone all my magic tricks, les trucs dans ma manche? Zhat would not be doing my job, monsieur!"

"Well, BLU has reason to believe you four are in possession of very dangerous information of something that no longer exists." The left man said.

"...WHAT?" Scout yelled. "Something that "no longer exists" ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME? If it doesn't exist anymore, what can we possibly do with it?"

A Spy able to work under the water, Madeline thought. They don't want this known. They don't want this out to the public. They don't want enemy hands ahold of this. She sighed. She knew their reasons, and they were legitimate reasons too.

And saying anything to defend her company's reason would condemn her to death.

"Alright, the Spy talked enough, all four of you, outside and get in the back of the van." The left man said.

"NU-UH MAN! ONLY HE TALKED! I DON'T KNOW NOTHIN'!" Scout yelled in defiance. The two men looked at eachother, and nodded, before tackling him. One helped the other who restrained him better whilst standing. The man holding the yelling and kicking Scout went out to the van.

"Does anyone else need to be tackled and cuffed before we get going?" One said, brushing dust off his blue suit.

"It's ok Madeline, I'm 'ere with ya'." Sniper said, walking her out, behind Spy, who went out with a smile. The one man who carried Scout out returned, walking by without even giving them a glace.

"You. Other mercenaries. Show me their rooms, their personal belongings go with them." The Medic and Heavy led him to the dorms, while the other stood at the end of the van, speaking to the group.

"We are driving to Well, and from there, I will be given commands to send each of you to a new BLU base, by train." He explained. Madeline watched as the other man packed crates of their stuff into his van.

* * *

Madeline was abruptly awoke by the stopping of the van, and the sounds of yelling and trains. She realized her head was on Sniper's shoulder, and her glasses were angled funny. She stretched before fixing them.

The double-doors at the end of the van opened, followed by "Get out of the van. We're on the BLU half of Well."

"BLU side?" Madeline asked. She remembered. This is where she boarded her train that took her to Viaduct.

They followed him and he pointed to a bench, while he picked up a payphone, and dropped a few coins through the slot.

"Mhmm yes, this is zero-zero-one. I have the four. Yes. Right. Platform D, right. 2:15? No, we missed it, sorry sir. Oh. That's right sir. Right away. Let the base know." He hung up the phone, as the other tuxedo man appeared, a dolly carrying all of their stuff. They brought out a second dolly, and 001 loaded the Spy's stuff onto the second one. "Take him to platform D."

Spy stood up, and faced Sniper, Scout, and Madeline. "Well, messieurs, madame, off I go, to my next adventure!" He grinned.

"How can you be happy, you're being deported against your will!" Madeline said, in a harsh tone.

"Only against my will if I fight it, madame!" They watched as he boarded the train. He found a windowed seat to watch them from. As the train pulled out, he waved from the window.

"Where is 'e goin'?" Sniper spoke up. Neither men replied. He hunched over himself. "I asked a God damned question!"

"It's classified." said one of the men. "That is all you need to know."

001 went back to the payphone, dropped in more change, and picked up the phone. After short two worded sentences on his part, he hung up. "Scout, you're next. Come with me, platform B."

Scout followed him begrudgingly, while the BLU worker pushed his stuff and loaded it onto the train. He took the handcuffs off the boy's wrists, and even helped him onto the train, or that's what it looked like to Madeline. Soon enough, Scout's train took off, in the opposite direction than Spy's train. before 001 could come back, the other man went to make the third phone call.

"I know how Spy got those papers into Viaduct, and in turn, lost them to RED." Madeline whispered to Sniper. He leaned in. "Notice that they didn't pat us down? Spy probably hid them in his suit."

"Shit. Spoy probably 'ad the papers in 'is suit this time, too." Sniper added. "I don't think they found the papers. They looked pretty flustered."

"Now the question is, which one of us is next?" She paused, as another blue colored train pulled into the station, jsut feet away from them. They both knew one or the other was going to leave any minute.

"Medic, you're up. Let's go." Her stuff was already on the cart. He lifted her stuff into the cargo, and then proceeded to help her into the train. "You know... I am a higher-up." He said. "I can get you out of the mercenary job, you know, get you into a better paying job, one more for a little women like you."

"Excuse me?" Madeline was appalled. "What was that?"

"I don't mean to offend but, are you really the type to be in the blood of the war? You should help push papers for land, not bodies." He grinned. "I can make it worth your while."

"I'd rather get shipped off like the livestock BLU treats its mercenaries as," she snarled. He threw her bag of more personal items into her lap, and he grumbled as he unboarded the train. She pulled down the window, she was lucky to get a seat where she could yell Sniper goodbye.

What she saw as she peered out the window was unexpected.

Sniper was holding onto his hat with one hand and slipped his rifle onto his shoulder as he chased after her train.

"Madeline! Jump!" He yelled. "You need to jump!" He waved franctically with his free arm.

She stuck her head fully out the window. "Sniper! The train is speeding up! Hurry!" She held out an arm. He waved at her.

"No! Jump! JUM-PUH!"

"Sniper! Grab on! Hurry! HURRY!"

Sniper attempted to get closer, the train was too loud to yell over. His fingertips brushed hers, but there was a failure to grasp, and he fell face-first into pavement. He tasted blood in his mouth, and he looked up to see the train had passed him.

"I... I wanted to sa-" He felt his face forced into the rough concrete, and more hands forced his wrists into cold handcuffs.

"Right. Let's not be difficult, I have permission to kill you, if I need to." Sniper felt more pressure on his head. "You're going so far north, buddy, you will never even see the word 'South' again. Hope you own a coat somewhere in your luggage." The BLU worker laughed, and the other man stood infront of the Sniper's face.

* * *

Madeline pulled herself back into the train, and wrapped her arms across her chest.

"I should've fought. I should've fought, I should've but I didn't! Why, why didn't I fight..?" She felt herself tearing up. "Spy took this as an adventure... Scout gave the men a hard time... Sniper fought off two men just to try and grab my hand." She stared at her hand, before thrusting it into the seat, and turning her head. She looked at her bad. "Oh gosh, I hope he put tissues in there..." She opened the bag, only to feel vibrating and hear a dim hum from inside, causing her to yelp and flinch away.

A blue-plated, dog-sized sentry forced the bag open, and scanned the area in 360 degrees before making a few beeps, and pulling itself out of the bag to jump into Madeline's lap.


	5. Welcome to 2Fort

Madeline slowly stepped off the train, to see the 2Fort Medic waiting for her. They had been called to know ahead of time about her arrival. He was older by several years than the Viaduct Medic.

"Ah, you are zhe new recruit, ja?" He asked. She nodded, fanning her face. She remembered hating the cold, now she wished for a chilly breeze. He noticed her annoyance of the heat. "You'll get used to it, frauline." He chuckled. "So, I am to guess you are a medic?"

"Yeah, I am." She said. Madeline wasn't sure if the tuxedo men from BLU had told them which class of mercenary she was. "Hopefully that's alright."

"Ja, good." He smiled. "Ve alvays need more doctors. No team has von vithout a doctor on zhe team. I can alvays use assistance."

Had he not looked at her report, her records? She was deported of all things, if that little tidbit got out, no one was going to trust her. "It sure is hot in the desert."

"It is, frauline. Hope you do not enjoy rain too much; it does not rain out here in 2Fort." He explained. Madeline thought on the train that, without snow in her eyes, fighting might be better for her; compared to the blinding sunlight and the intense heat, snow is preferred, by a long shot.

"So, are there any unique things I should know about 2Fort? Any common injuries, places to watch out, routine checks? Anything?" Madeline asked him questions, as they entered the concrete building, and she sighed as the air inside cooled her skin.

"Ja, ve do routine checks in zhe sewers; zhey are not really sewers, mind you, but zhey hold any vater zhat leaks from zhe purifiers. Our demoman prefers to do it himself, so none of zhe rest of us vorry about it." He explained. "Zhough, ve only have one of each class here, excepting scouts and medics; two medics and three scouts."

"Why so many scouts?" She asked. Madeline fixed her glasses, remembering her base only having one scout.

"Alot of information passes zhrough here." Medic explained. He led her into the med bay. "For RED und BLU. Scouts are fast enough to get ahold of zhe information. Vhat vere you doing at Viaduct?"

"Mostly fending off RED from the area," Madeline replied. "We recently acquired information though, and..." She paused. She noticed the medic looking at her, he expected her to finish that sentence. "That's how I ended up here."

He grinned and patted her shoulder, a little more roughly than she liked. "I know you vere deported; I enjoy an honest comrade. Just do not let zhe Soldier know, he vill probably try to kill you." The medic opened a cabinet, sorting through it.

"...Has he killed any other deportees?" She asked, watching her doctor comrade, and he returned with a spare medigun.

"Oh yes, plenty. Vell, maybe more like six or seven." He said. To Madeline, "six or seven" counted as plenty. "Und he killed zhe men zhat came from BLU co. zhat came to deport him. Zo, BLU just left him here, but I do not know vhat zhey are thinking, sending a deportee here vith him around. Must be circumstances."

"Yeah, yeah, circumstances." She grabbed the medigun, noting it was the mini medigun. "So, 2Fort had this small model too?"

"Ah, I figured vith your size, you had a smaller medigun. Mann Co. does not make zhem in a smaller size, even zhough RED und BLU now both hire vomen." He said, handing it to her, and made sure Madeline had a good grip before letting go.

"I was the only women on my team back in Viaduct; the other team also had only one woman, and she was their only medic." She recalled her first time in battle.

The medic started flipping through a folder, one she assumed was hers. "Ms. Madeline Carter, age thirty-four?"

"Yes?" She asked, hearing her name called in a questioning manner.

"...You are unmarried?" He asked. Madeline took out her hairband and heaved a sigh, before fixing it.

"Yes, I am unmarried, medic." She admitted. "Does that matter?"

"It is... unusual for your age, isn't it?" He asked. She reminded him she went through medical college and has been hired by BLU for awhile now, and being in a war doesn't give much time for romance. "Ah, zhat it does not. Er, vell, I can show you to your room?

"Are you married?" Madeline asked him. She turned to see him already leaving towards the rooms, and kicked up her speed to catch up.

* * *

"We gots de new medic already?" A young man said, biting greedily into an apple.

"Ve did! She is in her room, settling in. She vill be as you say, 'up and at them' tomorrow, Scout." Medic answered.

"Ded ye' warn her notta go into de sewers?" Yelled a drunken man of african descent.

"I told her about zhe sewers, calm down, demoman." Medic told him. "She is a nice girl, she should not be in a war but, I'm sure she has reasons for accepting."

"Wait, it's a girl?" The scout asked, jaw agape.

The medic nodded, arms crossed. "2Fort's first BLU female mercenary."

Scout grinned, and cheered, "Fuckin' sweet!"

"Careful, boy." Medic chuckled. "She strikes as one vho likes to ask questions, and ve all know you are not so fond of such things."

"What did she like, bomb ya' with girly questions, like yer fav'rit color an' shit?" He laughed.

"She asked me if I vas married." He said, losing his happier tone.

"oh shi- and you didn't rip her to shreds?" He remembered when he arrived from two states over by train, talking about his girl back home, and anything between meeting this Medic and waking up with a head wound was forgotten.

"Oy, doc', th' lass donne know," Demoman said, waking up from the alcohol. "She donne know, don' kill her forrit."

"No, she vill learn eventually." He said, with a straight face, arms crossed. "She is going to make my job harder zhan it needs to be."

"Aye, I donne mind women around, ye know, when I'm not workin'," The demoman said, nearly incomprehensible. "Nay, maybe one of th' scouts are gonna go an' distract her like she'll do t' us."

"Ch'yeah, and what're ya' gonna do, pally? Warn her about that monster ya' won't shuddup about?" Scout laughed. The demoman began yelled at the top of his lungs, about how there really is a monster, and how he nearly was eaten alive.

* * *

Madeline stuck with the 2Fort Pyro in her first scrim against RED at her new base, keeping her mini-medigun on him, while the other Medic stuck behind the team Heavy Weapons. She watched above for enemy snipers, soldiers, or demolitions to prey upon and overwhelm her nearby comrades. As her and her Pyro patient headed for one of the two entrances to the inside of RED, sirens wailing, a flash of blue flew overhead, and a headset ladned at her feet.

"Pyro! Look!" She smacked his shoulder, causing him to turn around. "Scout got the intel!" The Pyro mumbled happily, and Madeline picked up the headset. "Engineer, Engineer, Scout has the intel, I repeat! Scout has the intel!" She yelled into the microphone. Madeline put the headset on. "Engineer, do you read?" She backed away, tugging Pyro along towards the long bridge.

"We need a Medic ASAP, two wounded, the Scout with the intel is bleeding, I repeat, two wounded." said a repressed panicked voice of the southerner.

"Pyro! Base! _Now_!" Madeline yelled, and he nodded, the two crossed the bridge, and took the side entrance into the BLU building. She led the Pyro, who watched both their backs behind her, into the basement, where the wreckage of a sentry spread across the floor, blood contrasting with the paint. She found the Engineer against the wall, deep scratches on his arms, and one on his face.

"I was only cut; Scout was shot, git Scout, now." He grunted. Pyro took guard in the center of the room, as Madeline proped Scout's head up.

"...I-I got the intel..." He grinned. Madeline pushed his singed hat with the two bullet holes in the bill off his head.

"Shh, shh, you're hurt." She whispered, pulling a syringe out. "Don't worry; it's a painkiller." She injected the clear fluid into his arm quickly, and she pulled the blue gloves off, then the coat and began using the white fabric to stop the bleeding.

"I heard a call for a medic, vhat happened?" Yelled a stern german voice, the other medic ran in, coat fluttering gently.

"Medic, the Engineer's been cut up," Madeline reported. He nodded, and turned to tend to him.

"You're hurting my arm..." Scout mumbled. She told him she had to stop the bleeding.

"He has lost so much blood, zhis is a small wound," Medic said, looking over from the Engineer.

"Well, I can't use the medigun, the bullets' in his arm somewhere, and the bone could be shattered." Madeline said. "Him running helped him pump his own blood out."

The Engineer forced himself up, palms against the wall behind him, pushing himself upwards. "Well, let's git him upstairs, he's bleedin' all over the floor."

"Pyro? Carry Scout, with me." Madeline called the pyrotechnician over, and he helped Scout get to his feet before putting his arm over his thick suit-covered shoulders.


	6. Curiosity

"Frau?" called a voice. She looked over her shoulder, at the man calling her through her round glasses. "Can you do zhe sewer check? It's been avhile, I'd send Demoman to do it, vhat vith him alvays vantink to find zhat "sewer monster" und all, but..." He trailed off, looked to a medical bed, the demoman fading in and out of unconsciousness with a blue colored mist surrounding him, with the injured Scout eating his dinner in bed, since the male Medic's examination showed his heart and lungs were quite worn out form his intel-capping, he decided it was best to have bedrest for a few days.

She let out a sigh, she, along with other men, hated going in the sewers, only choosing it if it was life or death. And living in 2Fort, that was usually the case.

"Yeah, I can do it." She answered, getting up from her small chair and leaving her papers at her desk, she was organizing profiles and medical information for the medic, tossing out profiles of deceased members, updating the medical information and reports.

Madeline pulled her short brown hair into a ponytail, then adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. She exited the Med Bay, doors sliding open and closing behind her. The young medic turned right and went down the stairs to the courtyard. She walked along the open areas, mostly hallways to confuse the enemy, though somehow a RED every once in awhile would get in. She found another staircase, that wound under itself and led to the sewers. She hiked up her boots before trekking into the water.

It was called the sewers, for there was alot of water and it, well, looked like a sewer. It was more like where their water was cleaned and fixed for reuse, the company they worked for couldn't send a train every other day to clean the sewers and bring more water. She opened the blue door, and not to her surprise, one of the water purifiers was breaking, which is why there was water all throughout the "sewers". She left the room, locking the door and making sure to tell medic and engineer so it would get fixed.

As she headed back for the staircase, she could swear she heard someone else nearby. She walked as quietly through the water as she could towards the splashing sounds. And right as she peeked around a corner, the owner of the voice was there.

All Madeline could see, even with her glasses on, was the silhouette of a man, waist deep in water. This was where the flooring sloped, the water should be deeper than just someone's waist. She placed a hand on the wall, but doing so, she lost her balance, and her gloved hand made a soft noise moving across the concrete as she caught herself. The silhouette turned to her, and then quickly sank into the water.

It was the monster the injured Demoman had been speaking of.

* * *

"Madeline? Is zhat you?" Medic called. He rushed to the doors to greet her.

"Yeah, it's me," She replied, fingers in her hair "It's me."

"I vas getting worried, zhe demoman here keeps saying to not go into zhe sewers." he said, brow furrowed. "Vas anyzhing wrong down zhere?"

"Uh, well, one of the purifiers are broken. I can go get an engineer to fix it right now. It's quite flooded down there." She explained. "I wouldn't recommend anyone go down there alone, it was a little slippery too, don't want anyone drowning."

"Ja, ja, vouldn't be beneficial." Medic said. How was she supposed to tell him, to convince him that the demoman wasn't drunk out of his mind when telling everyone there was a monster in 2Fort?

* * *

A battle went out later in the day, the RED had started an attack on BLU again. Madeline and the only other Medic stood behind the Heavy, with the Soldier firing rockets over their heads. Madeline kept yelling to her patient Heavy to not go past the point on the bridge, pointing out the red sniper dot at the end.

After struggling with Heavy, who wanted to barge into the RED base, and trying to keep the scouts back, the REDs back off their attack. It was over, for the time being.

Madeline left during dinner, as it grew dark outside. She slipped down the stairs. She knew what she was doing. And she knew it was dangerous. The female medic could hear the other medic, the medic from Viaduct, speaking in her head, she could hear him saying, "Humans are quite zhe curious creature, once piqued, it must be sated." And she had to sate her curiosity, or it would eat her from the inside out. But then again, she remembered that curiosity did indeed kill the cat.

But satisfaction brought it back...right?


	7. Monster

Madeline went down the second set of stairs, into the sewers. She went through the watery tunnels quietly, trying to breathe soft. She found her way to the last spot she saw the monster, only to see he wasn't there.

"_He is here somewhere, where else would he go?_" She thought. She straightened up, and called for him.

"Hello?" she asked out. "I know you're here, no one else knows but me that you're here."

Nothing.

She sloshed the water around with her boots, before leaning against the smooth cement wall. She quickly noticed the water she moved had ripples, but the ripples were heading back to her, having bounced off something very close. She slid her boot against the surface of the water, to find it bounced off something invisible infront of her!

"No wonder no one's found you yet..." She said, staring infront of her. "You're a monster that can go invisible; like a Spy."

"You are, 'ow you say? A smart one." Said a heavy french accent. In a slow-forming cloud of gray, he appeared. Again, she only saw him from the waist up, and he was dressed up much like the spies; a dark pinstripe suit, blue in color, with a matching balaclava.

"Wait, you're just a spy." Madeline said. "Sure, spies are monsters of their own sort, but-"

"Non, I am..." He crossed his arms, sinking into the water. "Un monstre."

"Wait, no, no don't go." She put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't sink more into the water, but he moved out of her reach.

"I do not trust medics." He snarled, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Medics are zee reason why I am like... like zhis!"

"I wasn't one of the medics that hurt you." Madeline said, curtly. "And as far as I've seen, you're fine, despite a bit angst-filled."

Thanks to the spy's reaction, she learned he was, truly, not fine.

He quickly slid out of the water, from the waist down it seemed like an infinite amount of tentacles. She pushed herself against the wall behind her out of shock, and watched him climb up the wall, and hang from the ceiling, staring at her.

"W-what are you?" She stammered. He continued to stare down at her for what felt like several minutes.

"I will believe jou meant to say, "who", for jour sake." He sighed. "I, I cannot remember my name, zhe medics zhat did zhis to moi gave me... zo many drugs..."

She stood and went through being calm at time to tense, even scared at some points, for the man as he told his story, as much as he would tell her. They had drugged him, forced him into operations, combined him with an octopus, that was all Madeline could catch that he spoke in english.

"I feel zhey are still zhere, every time I hear a battle, je me cache," he said, quietly. "I 'ide." He looked around. "Forgive moi if i seem... tense, I 'aven't talked zo much to anozzer 'uman in... zo long."

"No, no, that's understandable," Madeline said. "You've apparently been here a long time." She caught on her breath something she remembered. "I saw you, the other night."

"Ah, zhat was you, zhat night?" He asked of her. She nodded, and explained that she saw him dissapear into the water, too quickly for her to see much. "Oh, I went to 'ide. I zhought jou were ze... ozzer one zhat comes through here. Ze black drunken man."

"He was injured in battle, and since it was late, I went to do the weekly sewer check so the other medic could watch him." She explained.

And from there, the two just continued their short, yet friendly banter, awkward as it was, with the octopus spy tense around medics, and Madeline being face-to-face with a "monster".

"Shouldn't jou get back up to wherever jou're supposed to be?" mentioned the mutated spy.

"I dunno; should I?" Madeline chuckled. "Ah, you're right, I'll need some sleep. And a shower, it doesn't exactly smell like roses down here."

"Ah, zhat would be dead bodies." He replied. Madeline's jaw dropped. "What did jou expect, I have to eat."

* * *

This was a quiet day, thought Madeline. Madeline was still sorting out profiles and medical information on everyone at the BLU base of 2Fort. She did this while not tending to the several injured from the previous battle. Though every few minutes, she would have to get up, routine checks, someone needed water, more painkillers for Scout, (who was finally out of her hair), along with dealing with out-of-battle casualties, which, not surprisingly, were mostly scouts.

Several scouts were on the second level off the ground of the fort, and one jumped on a dare, and missed the roof of the bridge, only to fall in the water. They made their way to him and pulled him out, and with sheepish looks on their face, brought him to the Med-bay, hoping only one of their medics were in.

"YOU DARED HIM TO WHAT?" yelled Madeline.

"Hey, don't yell at us, ya' lady!" One of the scouts argued at her. "All scouts can jump that far! I think his legs are stupid."

"He's a NEW RECRUIT, I'm used to seeing you guys run across atop the bridge! Him? He hasn't been here a day, and now this goes on his reports, that he got injured on day one!" She continued scolding. "Instead of daring him, next time, TEACH HIM. That's all your jobs, to show the new recruits the ropes around here!"

"We weren't hired to be teachers!" a few scouts complained.

"We have to act like a family, and watch out for eachother." Madeline placed her face in her palms. "The older medic helped me the most when I got to Viaduct, and then this base's medic did the same, and you all got help from older scouts long lost. The least you could do is help the new guy."

"What about spies?" Another asked. "They don't help no one!"

"Spies keep the best track of their surroundings; if one got lost here, they'd get their butts sent back home. That's a class you only want the top of, and that's why we have so few." Madeline answered. "Now, get out."

The crowd of them left, as the other medic entered. "Vhat vas zhat about?" He asked. Madeline gave a sigh before explaining why they had a scout that smelled awful from the mud, blood, and water mixture under the bridge with both of his legs broken. "Vhat! Vhy, I ought to-"

"Don't worry, they already already were scolded by me." She laughed.

"Next time zhey do somezhing, you should threaten to ground zhem, vhy don't you?" He chuckled, before checking on all the patients himself.

"Heh, maybe I should, I have to practically mother all those boys anyways." She laughed. "Doesn't help I send the Sniper off with fresh coffee and lunches when I can, either."

"Madeline, that vas your doing all zhis time? You are too caring to be here." He cooed.

"I know, I know." She sighed, still with a smile. "Like you say; we're all a family here, we have to watch out for eachother. Besides, people have better aim when not shaking with hunger."

"Zhat is quite true." The other medic admitted. "Zhe demoman spoke about zhe sewers again, do you think he dreamed about his attack?"

"His attack?" She asked. "He was attacked?" She could actually bring herself to think the sewer spy has probably attacked BLUs, maybe even REDs. No wonder they never take the sewer route to get in.

"I don't know! He keeps mentioning a tentacled monster, and says threats against it." He sighed. "He's the only one zhat goes in zhe sewer to make sure zhe purifiers aren't leaking."

The demoman shot up, his one eye wide as Madeline rushed over to help the older medic keep him in the bed. "GEDDA MONSTAH! I'MMA GEDDA MONSTAH EVEN IF I LOSE MY LAST BLOODY EYE!"

"Demoman, calm down! Zhere is no monster in here!" Medic yelled over and over again, till the black demolitions calmed down.

"Doc, I swear upon me life, there issa monstah here in th' forts!" he said, arms crossed. "Whateva' ye' do, stay outta th' sewers. Especially you, lass." He looked at Madeline. "You be too pretty offa girlie to lose."

"Right, well, I think you need to get up, you've been out a few days. Go to the gym, perhaps?" Madeline advised. "I'll stay out of the sewers." She lied. She watched him exit the room, and figured he'd go for some scrumpy before the gym.

* * *

Madeline went back to the files, reorganize the drawer full of bios on Spies, taking out ones that were confirmed deceased, those defected, or simply M.I.A..

"Ah... Madeline? Vas zhe purifier fixed?" Medic asked. She took the chance.

"Not really sure, I can go make sure, if you'd like?" She grinned. He nodded, and told her he would appreciate it. But before trekking to the sewers for a third time, she stopped by the small kitchen, and wrapped a few sausages in a towel. "_He might want a snack._"

She went downstairs and descended into the sewers again, and as she reached where she last saw the spy, she called him out.


	8. Nightmare

"Spy? I brought a snack for you, come out." As she unraveled the sausages, still cold from the old refrigerator, he appeared from thin air, waist deep in the water. She handed one to him, asking him to try it. "It might taste better than people." After one timid bite, he, to Madeline's horror, swallowed it whole, and the rest of the meat faced the same fate. "...Hungry thing, aren't ya'? I'll have to bring you food more often."

"Ah... I am zorry, thank jou for zhe food." He said, licking his teeth. "It is not every day I get to eat."

"I wouldn't be able to bring you three full meals a day, but if you don't eat everyday, I can probably bring you leftovers and meat like this." Madeline said.

"Why did jou bring me zomething to eat?" He asked. He leaned against the concrete wall, hand folded together over his abdomen, and she could see his relaxed tentacles under the surface.

"Only one person comes down here once a week, besides me I guess."

"Zhat cannot be zee only reason?"

"Well, I also like you, Rousseau Dubois." She grinned when his face turned at the name.

"...Rousseau Dubois?" He questioned.

"I was organizing BLU files for the Medic, back at the base I was deported from." She explained. "I had to go through the info the Scout snatched from the enemy base, while defending the place. It was BLU information in a RED base, which drew my attention." Madeline explained why she was deported, about the photos of a Spy just like him, nothing but black tentacles from the waist down.

"...Jou t-think jou know who I am?" He stammered.

"This was the only file that didn't confirm a K.I.A., M.I.A., nothing. It also mentioned alot of drug useage given by medics and surgeries, but no specifics any further than that." Madeline answered him.

"Zo, the teammates I knew, zhey know nothing of what 'appened to me."

"I'll try to find out, there's alot of older people here. The other medic won't know anything, I'm sure." She brushed her fingers through her hair. "This'll be difficult, you probably always wore that balaclava around teammates, didn't you?"

"Oui." He replied. "Like every spy."

"Great. Well, I'll at least try, I have access to tons of files about everyone who's ever been in this BLU base." She rubbed the back of her head.

"If jou find out, please, tell me." He said. He began repeating what was most likely his name.

"Of course." She answered. "I should probably go, I told Medic I would check the purifier in that room, and that I'd be back."

"I thought it was fixed? Ze engineer... You took the chance to come 'ere during daylight?" She gave her reply in a nod accompanied by a smile. "...Why? Zhis is no place for a woman."

"I like you, Rousseau." She said, before heading towards the stairs.

* * *

Madeline began asking older members of her team if they remember a spy going missing. The Sniper claimed he could possibly know him.

"Yup, I knew that man. 'e got really sick, and eventually everyone just stopped seeing 'im, 'e never left the medbay, y'know." Sniper explained. "...'e was a strange one, even for a spoy. Never did see 'im 'ave a smoke, and 'e was quite the chatterbox. Ask 'im about anythin' 'e couldn't speak of, 'e would just say it was classified, an' then keep goin' on with th' chatter!"

Madeline gave him her thanks, before telling him she'd be in the med bay if he remembered anymore info on this spy. She slipped into the rows of cabinets, and inside one, she noticed had an inside drawer in the back, and more suspiciously; it was locked. She pulled a scalpel out, and dug at the lock till the lid popped open, although at that point, both lock and scalpel were utterly destroyed. She reached in, and quickly pulled the papers out.

"...Rousseau..."

* * *

"I...I change my mind, docteur! I don't want to do zhis!" Yelled a voice.

"Nonsense, I told you; Once you agreed, you vill not turn back on zhis! Not on me!" yelled back a stern german voice. "Spy!"

"Zhis... zhis is ze work of a madman! You cannot possibly be allowed to do zhis to anozzer 'uman being! Medic! Please!"

"No, infact, I am being paid to do zhis!" Laughed the german-voiced Medic.

"Let me go!" the Spy struggled against his bonds, and the doctor laughed at the sound of the chains rattling.

"Don't vorry, you vill be given anesthesia, as I do not need a patient who is kicking and screaming." Medic stared into his captive's eyes, a smile spread across his face. And he lifted a glass syringe, filled with clear fluid.

And the Spy knew what it was going to do to him. He couldn't stop it now.

He lowered the syringe to his arm, and...

* * *

"Rousseau! Rousseau!"

His eyes shot open. He felt warmth radiating into him, and looking up, he saw Madeline was holding him, and he had fistfuls of her coat in his hands. He breathed heavy, not knowing what to make of her being this kind, and ended up freezing in place.

"I came down here to tell you what I found out, and... I found you coiled up, half-cloaked and muttering to yourself." She pulled him in closer, resting her head on his, and sighed. Her breath felt so warm to his cold-blooded being.

"It was a... ah, nothing." He muttered.

"Bullshit, it was nothing, what's wrong?" she asked him. He noticed he wasn't out of the water, that she was kneeling in the water with him near a wall, herself waist-deep while the waters nearly reached his shoulders.

"I...it was jus' a dream." He said. He slowly let go of her coat, but continued to lean on her.

"Hey, when you can, loosen those tentacles? I-I can't feel my legs." She whispered, after wrapping her arms around him again. She felt him uncoil, but still felt his touch.

"...Madeline?"

"Yes, Rousseau?"

"I don't want to stay in ze sewers any longer."

She gripped around him tighter. "I wish I could bring you up, out of here. I could talk to the other medic about it, tell the base about you, but I don't want you hurt, or worse." Obnoxious voices echoed through the sewer area, causing the two to become alert. "Oh no..."

"It is another battle from zhe RED team?" Rousseau asked. She nodded to him.

"I've been gone too long, and-" She heard water splashing from the staircase. "Quick, cloak!"

In a puff of smoke, he was gone. She watched him fade before turning around, only to have two red scouts corner her.

"Haha, a lady medic with no weapons! Our lucky day, pally!" One said to the other, pressing his scattergun into her stomach.

"Blow her guts everywhere, man, fucking do it!" The other laughed.

She hoped her insides wouldn't reveal the Spy's location, she looked to where she last saw his face, scared and dissapearing. He let out a growl, and before she realized what was going on, both scouts were flailing in midair, their hands reaching for their necks. Rousseau uncloaked, and slowly rose out of the water, and pinned them to the ceiling with tentacles.

And with a sick crack, they both fell limp, and he let them fall into the deeper water.

"I'm... zo zorry you 'ad to see zhat." He apologized so quietly, Madeline almost didn't hear. He started to sink into the water to further dispose of the corpses when he was hugged from behind.

"Thank you for saving me." She said, before running out towards the exit to the battlefield.


	9. To the Medbay

Rousseau began to grow worried. It was days since he last saw Madeline. He grew scared that she had been injured during battle, or possibly dead. It _was_ possible. He paced around underwater. Maybe she was scared of him, but, no, she thanked him for killing those boys, for saving her life.

From behind him, he heard water splashing, and he cloaked, and peeked from the water's surface.

It was the older medic that Madeline had mentioned. He looked flustered, his face was sweaty.

"R-Rousseau?" He asked. He lay still in the water. "Madeline asked for you, s-she wants you to see her in zhe med bay." He continued to stay still. "Rousseau, no one is going to see you, not even me. She said you vill not hurt me." He watched the medic rub his face, claiming this was stupid and asking himself why he calling out a fake monster anyways.

"Lead ze way." The spy eventually said. The medic looked around, wondering where the voice came from. "Ah, I am cloaked, please, lead ze way." He silently left the waters and followed the medic up the stairs, turning sharply into the med bay.

"Madeline?" The medic asked. She mumbled a little, letting him know she was awake, even if she looked asleep. "Rousseau is here." She opened her eyes, and smiled.

"You can uncloak, Rousseau." She grinned as she spoke gently.

"I...I don't want to; Zee medic is still 'ere." He spoke out. They both watched as the Medic shook his head.

"I am sorry, I refuse to leave. Apparently zhe monster is in my med bay and I am not leaving it alone vith my patient." He said.

"Medic, he's kinda... he's a little strange, okay?" Madeline said.

"I am not leaving." He grabbed a chair, and settled in. He sighed, and turned to face the wall. "Zhis is zhe best I vill do. I won't watch, I'll read my book, and then I'll help Rousseau back to the sewers." he grabbed a book, and continued to grumble about how it wasn't safe for a man-eater knowing where the med bay was.

He uncloaked, and looked over Madeline. One arm was wrapped in wet-looking red bandages, and her torso was dressed the same way, though all the red stayed collected on one side.

"Yeah, s-someone got me pretty good with a shotgun." She explained her wounds. "Backed away from the guy, and I fell off the second story, onto my arm."

"Jou will be fine, though?" He asked. Madeline nodded, and told him she can leave the med bay tomorrow.

"Rousseau, if I may ask," the medic spoke up. "If you can cloak, have you left the sewers before?"

"Non, I was not sure of what would be up 'ere, ze sounds of people made me quite nervous," He replied, not turning around to face the medic asking. "I did not want to meet those that scared me." He flickered between cloaked and uncloaked, becoming more wary of the medic and his questioning.

"I don't vant to pry more, but ve have a demoman who goes into zhe sewers," Medic asked again. Rousseau grew nervous, he didn't know this person at all, and he was questioning him. "You are zhe monster he claims lives in 2Fort?"

"Oui...I am zee monster." Rousseau answered.

"You are not a monster," Madeline said, with a stern tone.

"I think I... should probably return now, Madeline." Rousseau sighed.

"A good idea." Medic said. "If you need anything, you can come back here, just make sure no one sees you, ja?"

"So, how vill ve get him out of zhe sewers?"

* * *

Medic and Madeline continued talking long after he returned from escorting Rousseau.

"I'm more worried about the team, rather than Rousseau." She explained. "He has no problems leaving the sewer, but what about that demoman? Rousseau thinks he could easily be killed by him."

"Does zhe rest of the team even know about zhe "monster"?" Asked medic.

"I don't know, depends on how much people listen to that demoman, everyone's probably cast it off as another one of his drunken delusions." She sat up, stretched out, and hopped off the medical cot.

"Vell, if you can, please have him come back," Medic said. "His physical health cannot be so vell if he has been living in zhe sewers. Maybe he vas made for dank water life?"

"He's human." Madeline sighed. "Medic, he was a human on the outside at some point."

"Vait, vhat?" he gasped. "He said himself zhat he vas a monster."

"He sees himself as one, but he isn't!" She exclaimed. She made her way to the door.

"Vait! Madeline..!" Medic called out. She looked over her shoulders, eyes locked on him. "How much do you know about zhis mons- uh, man? His past, how he came to be?" She stayed silent for a few seconds.

"...The BLU medics before us did this to him."

* * *

Madeline, now knowing the Medic would cover for her, and if there weren't too many injured or sick, she would spend her spare time in the concrete walls of the underground sewers with Rousseau.

"You know, the medic keeps asking me to have you show yourself uncloaked to him." She told him, biting her sandwich. "He knows it's not healthy to live down here, he wants to do an examination." The word ending her sentence made Rousseau flinch.

"I'm fine. I eat enough, now that jou zee me every day." He bit into his own sandwich. She shook her head.

"You know that's not enough. You still don't trust the Medic? You trust me, and I'm a Medic."

"Ze medics who worked on moi were men, it ties in with zat." He huffed. "I never want to be poked and prodded like, like a lab experiment again."

"What if I was there with you?" She told him she could do the actual examination, but Medic would have to be in the room, and he would have to be uncloaked. "Is that, that's fair right?"

She paused while he thought about it.

"No one else will be in ze room? Jou probably 'ave patients in zhere."

"The med bay was empty earlier this evening, no one was hurt." She recalled the last battle, the worst that happened was that a scout busted his hand open when he fell to the ground, and he used his hand to cushion his fall.

"...Alright, when do jou want me to do this?" He finished off the last of his sandwich in one bite.

"Well, best to get it over with right? It's late in the evening, some people are probably even asleep." She stood up. "We can go right now."

"W-what, right now?" But before he could protest, she grabbed him by the wrist, and led him to the stairs.


	10. Examination

"Finally, I get to see." Medic said, smiling. "I have been so curious to see vhat you look like, Rousseau."

The three were in the operating room, in the back of the med bay.

"Please... to not be standing zo close?" Rousseau asked, still cloaked. Medic nodded and leaned on the wall opposite of Madeline, and far as he knew, the "monster" man as well. The Spy uncloaked, headfirst. Then his arms and torso, and both he and Madeline watched the Medic's jaw drop when his uncloaking was finished.

"Mein Gott!" His hands halfway to his face, shaking. "Was ist das?"

"Medic, Medic!" Madeline put her hands up. "It's still Rousseau, you know Rousseau."

"Zhis is... unglaublich. Gute Gott, herr Spy, vhat happened to you?" Medic was stammering, trying to calm down from the initial shock of the eight tentacles on his tile floor.

"BLU medics 'appened to me. The BLU medics before you and Madeline." Rousseau said, quietly. Madeline began to tell Medic everything they knew, which quite sadly, was not all that much.

"You... you hardly remember anyzhing, ja?" Medic asked. "It must have been _traumatizing_." Madeline interrupted them, reminding them that the sooner it was started, the sooner it would end. "Ah, should ve perhaps look up octopi in zhe books? Or go by humans on health?"

She pressed the stethoscope to the spy's chest. After about half a minute, she pulled it away from him. "Your heart and lungs sound fine." She told him.

"Oh, zat is good. Was zat it?" He asked. She shook her head, and told him he needed to take off his blue suit jacket. "...I do?"

"Yes. You do. Along with any other clothes you have on under it." He cautiously pulled the tattered and damp jacket off, and the Medic held out his arms, signaling he would hold his items. Unbuttoned vest, he slipped it off his shoulders, and handed it over with one hand, the other undoing the tie. Madeline watched, she was amazed he was any skinnier than she already thought he was, the wet clothes added some bulk.

Underneath what were once high-quality threads was pale skin, splotches of gray and surgical scars lined around his waist. All the more interesting were the thee black lines on each side.

Madeline pointed them out, asking if he knew what they were. He brought a balled-up fist to his mouth. "Zhey, er, ...ahem, gills." Rousseau answered. "Zhey close when I'm not in enough water."

"Vait, you breathe in zhe vater down zhere?" Medic piped in. "Zhe water mixes from a broken purifier along vith zhe blood und mud vater, you cannot be breathing zhat!"

"Well, er, Medic, I 'ave been, for quite ze while." He admitted. It was true, he couldn't remember how long he had to have been in the sewers.

"Do you zhink ve could have a look inside?" Medic asked. Rousseau looked at Madeline, his face showing worry.

"It's... part of it, Rousseau." She said. "You've been in unclean water for who knows how long."

* * *

All three learned quickly, Rousseau did _not_ enjoy having fingers in his gills. Madeline ended up having to let him lean on her shoulder, with her arms around him and prying open a single gill slit while the Medic looked inside.

"Ja... You are sick." He declared. Madeline let go of the gill slit, and wrapped her arms around a very quiet Rousseau. She asked Medic how he could tell just from the gills that he was ill. "I kept fish, meine gute frau. Zhat und any organ zhat is gray colored generally is not a good sign... Is he avake?"

"Uhh..." She shifted her arm, shaking the sick Spy a little, with no response. "Uh, no, he's out."

Medic sighed, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead. "Ve're going to need a little help if ve're going to help him. He vould still last a little vhile longer but... If ve do not help him, he vill have a very short life, and he vill never get stronger. How long he vill last... I honestly cannot say, he isn't a hundred percent human anymore."

"Well, what are we gonna do with him till we get help?" Madeline asked. Her arm was falling asleep holding up Rousseau.

"Vell, for fish, I alvays put medicated drops in zhe water. I can get something similar, but ve do not have a tank his size."

"We're gonna need the Engineer aren't we?" She said. Medic nodded to her. "Okay, you want to go get him, or should I?"

"Ja, you stay here. I vill go talk to zhe Engineer." Medic straightened, and paused in the doorway. "Do not let him leave." and with that, he exited the room.

* * *

Medic walked down towards the intelligence room. The Engineer was usually in there, reading blueprints and planning ways to protect the base, and working on sentries and dispensers.

"Ja, hallo?" He said. He looked up, tipping his hard hat. "I need your assistance."

"Well, doc, what do ya' need?" He asked, accent thick.

"Vell, I need a tank. A...a fishtank." He said. The Engineer quickly gave him confused looks.

"Son, there's no fish 'round these parts, it's desert for miles around. Only things out there are the Badlands and the Dustbowl." He said, frowning. "Even farther out is the Gravelpits, and that's all there is."

"Ja, I know. Zhis tank is not for fish use." Medic groaned. He loved looking professional, smart, and he was going to look like a fool. "Have you heard zhe Demoman's stories, the ones of the "sewer monster" perhaps?"

"Aw, doc'," The Engineer sighed. "Don't tell me ya' want t' keep it as a pet to study. Doc, I thought ya' was a smart one, ya' can't seriously believe the drunk one."

"Listen to me, I vould never make a fool out of myself." He growled. "Zhis 'sewer monster' is really... was really a man. Und he is sick. I need a big enough tank for a man to have room in."

The Engineer scratched the back of his neck. "Well, we have enough sheets of glass to do th' job, Doc', but there'll only be room for it in the main foyer."

"Mein gott..." Medic covered his face. "He is not exactly fond of people."

"We could build it smaller." He added, and said a smaller one was more portable. The medic shook his head.

"No, no, being cramped vill stress him out, he is bigger zhan a human, and he is very used to space."

"Well, doc, this guy's gonna have t' make a compromise, either deal with people and live, deal with a small tank, or go back t' the darn sewers, but ah still don't believe what you're sayin'."

It was quiet for several minutes, the Medic covering his face. "He is going to die if I don't do something..."

"I will build that tank anywhere you want, mister, if I can see this here darn 'monster'." He sighed. The medic paused.

"Vell... he vas asleep in zhe med bay vhen I left him und Madeline." He explained. Engineer seemed to perk up when Madeline was brought in.

"Wait, don't you tell me, boy, that you gone and left lil' Madeline with him?" He asked, in disbelief.

"Vhat vas I supposed to do? He only completely trusts her!" Medic groaned, and then he let out a sigh. "Let's go." Medic walked in a rushed manner to the medical bay, Engineer close behind him. "Alright, come on, he is in zhe back." He rushed to the back, and knocked on the door. "Madeline? It's me. Zhe Engineer vants to come in." He cracked the door open an inch. "Is he still asleep?"

"Mhmm, he is." She whispered back. "Don't make too much noise."

Medic looked back at the Engineer. "I have to ask you to not. Make. A noise. No matter vhat." He opened the door enough to slide in, and the Engineer followed suit.

"Well, I'll be damned..." He whispered, placing a hand on his helmeted head.

"Zhis is vhy I need a tank." Medic said. "Can you do it or not?"

"I reckon' I can." He replied. "He... he ain't dangerous, is he?"

"I'll be honest with you two," Madeline said. "He lifted two scouts and snapped their necks, one tentacle each."

And she watched the jaws drop.

"Frauline, vhy did you not tell me zhis sooner!" Medic said in a harsh whisper. "You did not tell me he has killed others!"

"Anyone in RED and BLU have killed people, as well!" She snapped. "They were red Scouts. He killed them after one of them shoved a scattergun into my _stomach_. If he wasn't there, I would have_ died_."

"So he's neva' eaten a BLU?" Engineer asked.

"I... can't guarantee that." Madeline admitted. Medic sighed.

"Well, I reckon ah'd better start that tank construction. Gimmie a night to draw up th' blueprints, and if we're not attacked, I'll have this done by this time tomorrow." The Engineer said, before heading out of the room.

"Vell, I should be able to make some medicine for him, it vill take time." Medic said quietly. He opened his mouth to continue, but froze as Rousseau stirred.

"Medic, uhm, I can't stay here all night." Madeline yawned. "My legs are asleep, I have tentacles wrapped around my arms and legs, and he squeezes pretty tight."

Medic put a firm hand on a shoulder, and shook him gently. "Rousseau, Rousseau you need to vake up." The only reaction was grumbling. "Feh. Maybe he does not exert himself often? Leaving the sewers and dealing vith the stress of an exam may have had such a mental toll."

"Rousseau? Wake up." She shifted underneath him, and he propped his head up.

"Hu? Wh-wha? Où suis-je?" He looked around. "I fell asleep?"

"You sure did." Madeline said. "You can sleep more, it's late, just let me up?" He loosened his tentacles, and rolled off of her torso. "Do you need to go back to the sewers to sleep?"

"Non~ I do not want to go back." He yawned. "Unless I 'ave to."

"Your tentacles are dried zhough." Said medic, after his quick no-touch observation. "Wet blankets should make you more comfortable, ja?" He grabbed a few sheets, and soaked them in the sterile sink fixed in the wall. "Madeline, help." The two successfully wrapped all eight tentacles in dripping sheets, up to his chest.

"Ah, ze water feels zo fine." Rousseau sighed. After grabbing some dry sheets for use as a makeshift pillow, Madeline and Medic bid the Spy goodnight, promising him the door is locked and no one will get in.


	11. Like Family

"You like th' dimensions, Doc'?" The Engineer asked. A blue sheet of paper was in Medic's hands, white lines and numbers scrawled all over. His face was pale, gray under his eyes. "Ya' alright there, Doc'?"

"Hm? Ja, I am fine." He said. "I stayed up all night, reading books, calling for info, so I could make medicine. It vas simple to create actually, und it is very good ve vill have a tank."

"Couldn't make it take-able any other way, Doc'?" Engineer chuckled. "Glad I'll still be building."

"Ja, He needs enough of zhe medicine, but it has to be diluted." He yawned. "If I just shot a syringe full of it in him, he vould probably drop dead."

"Oh. Well, that's no good." Engineer said. He pulled out a blue toolbox, and reached in for a small flame torch. Setting it aside, he grabbed sheets of glass from their slots in the wall. "Well, I better get started. Better go tell that darn spy what's comin' for him."

* * *

"Ah! Just eat it!"

"It tastes strange, Madeline."

"It's good for you. Eat it!"

"Non~."

"Hallo! Madeline, Rousseau." Medic waltzed in through the door. They both looked up, plates in their lap, Madeline's nearly cleaned, while Rousseau had a nearly full plate. "Having some lunch?"

"I am, Rousseau isn't eating." Madeline snitched.

"Everyzing tastes zo strange. 'Ow do you eat it?" He whined.

"Do not worry, your appetite should increase after you swim in zhe tank." Medic beamed.

"...'Tank'?" Madeline and the Spy both questioned.

"I have medicine zhat I vill dilute in a tank being made just for you, Rousseau." He explained further. He told him it would be sizable for him, and he would feel much better after being in it for a few hours. "Zhe thing is, people are going to see you. It is downstairs. It vill be open too, a box vithout a lid. It vill mostly be us medics, zhe engineer, zhe scouts, und zhe pyro. But everyone goes down there sometime."

"Oh, non, non, I cannot d-" Rousseau stammered, plate sliding to the floor.

Madeline grabbed him by the wrist. "Rousseau, you have to. It's the only way you will get better!" Her eyes locked onto his face. "You killed two scouts at once while this sick, you could take a Heavy on by yourself, if you do this."

"Non, I do not wish to be zeen like this a-"

"Rousseau, you cannot hide forever." Medic said. "Ve von't let anyone hurt you, okay?" He let out a small whine, and was about to say no again, when Madeline leaned on him.

"Madeline's room is right next to where the tank will be." Medic said, grinning. "It is near everyone's rooms, but your tank is right next to her's."

"Okay." He said. "But only since jou would be so close by to moi."

* * *

And as the Engineer promised, the tank was done by that night. Rousseau traversed the corridors between Madeline and Medic, with Engineer watching their backs. With the use of his tentacles, he pulled himself into the tank, and sank slowly to the flat bottom of it. Medic stretched his arm over his head, an eyedropper pinched gently between his index finger and thumb. Squeezing it, a bright green liquid sprayed into the water, and quickly dispersed.

"Zhere. A few hours in here, and you should feel better in no time!" Medic said, as he grinned. Rousseau smiled back at him before stretching for the surface. "Make sure to keep your gills in zhe water; zhat's what zhe medicine is for."

"Hopefully when you're better I can build you a better tank." The engineer laughed. "Could make somethin' huge for you, more room to really swim, maybe put in a couch."

"Oh, ha, ha." Rousseau laughed sarcastically. He cleared his throat. "I never dreamed zhat I would find zuch kind people, especially ones zat are BLU medics."

"You're a fellow BLU; BLUs stick together, like family." Medic said, an arm over Madeline's shoulders, his opposite hand on the Engineer's shoulder.


	12. Things like that Happen

Madeline laid in her bed, in her room. Her bed was much more comfortable than the medical cot she was in a few days ago. The room was small, like every other room. There would barely be enough room for two people, most of the dorms here had two people co-habiting. She thought about getting up to get a snack, and getting something for Rousseau to eat. She pulled herself out of bed, and opened the door, onto to see a scout staring into Rousseau's tank.

"Oh, geeze..." She said breathlessly. "Scout!" He didn't turn to her voice. She walked in long strides over to him, grabbing his shoulders. "Scout?"

"Dieu merci, jou are 'ere." Said Rousseau, peeking over the edge of the glass. "...'E 'as been staring at me all morning."

"He hasn't tried to hurt you?" Madeline asked.

"Non." He said shortly. "'E just showed up, and 'e dropped 'is bat, and froze there."

"Why didn't you call for me? Or the Medic?" Madeline said, pushing the Scout to the floor, having him sit against the wall.

"I didn't want to scare 'im." Rousseau replied, sinking back into the water.

"Probably a good idea, actually." Madeline said. "Scout? Scout, it's okay."

"...HOW ARE THINGS OKAY?" He said, voice shrill. "WE HAVE A MONSTA' INNA FISHTANK."

Madeline quickly covered his mouth. "Quiet!" She hushed. "He isn't a monster, he's a spy, he's a BLU. He's on our side!" She explained, but he still sat there in shock. "Rousseau, has anyone else seen you so far?"

"Ze Pyro saw me, I didn't know what 'e was saying, but 'e was kind. 'E gave me a cookie." He grinned. "I 'ave not zeen anyone else, though."

"...You're a BLU?" Scout said, finally much calmer. Rousseau nodded to him, though he didn't rise to the surface.

"Scout, I need you to not tell the Demoman." Madeline explained.

"WE CAN'T HAVE THIS MONSTA' AROUND." Scout complained.

"Urhg," Madeline sighed out of frustration. "Do not tell him, I have plans for telling him, alright?"

* * *

"How did you find him?" "How big is he, really?" "I bet he could throw Heavy with a single tentacle!" "Is he slimy?" "mmph mh mphmhmhm?"

Scout followed Madeline's instructions on not telling the one person she told him to not show to the Spy. She didn't say anything about telling _everyone_ else. Now she and Medic were stuck keeping a large crowd from getting too close.

"I don't care what he is." A soldier grunted. "If you say he's a BLU and an ally, I will treat him as such."

"Quite a calm reaction from you, Soldier." Medic pointed out.

The soldier adjusted his helmet. "If he makes one wrong move, I swear upon the great constitution of America, I will personally boil him and have myself a plate of calamari." And with that he left.

"So, he isn't gonna hurt no one, right?" A Scout asked. Rousseau surfaced, most took a step back.

"Ah... I would not 'urt nobody." He said. "We are, as madame Madeline put it, allies."

* * *

Madeline as well as the Medic were thrilled that the rest of the 2Fort BLU team accepted Rousseau. And she watched as his confidence soared, the Pyro would share his midnight lunches with him if he was awake, and the Scouts enjoyed including him in their games of catch. The only one who still didn't know was the Demoman.

"Catch this one, slimy." A Scout laughed, tossing a scuffed baseball in the air. Rousseau grinned as he caught it with ease, and chucked it in the air, for the scouts to fight over. As the oldest caught while the other two held their heads, having crashed into eachother, he sank in the water.

"Hey, Spy, c'mon, come back up." The third whined. "C'mon, man, or I'll start tappin' the glass, you fish hate that."

Rousseau surfaced, and spat water at him. "I am not a fish!" He sank into the water again, he found himself preferring the room temperature water to the hot dry air. The Scout with the baseball chucked it into his tank, where it made a loud _plop!_ sound.

The tenta-spy surfaced again, jaw open and sharp teeth biting into the baseball, and he spit that out of his tank, too. The Scouts laughed loudly. "It's like he's friggen' Jaws!"

"So, you boys playing nice?" said a female voice. Rousseau smiled to see Madeline approaching.

"Yes, ma'am," Two said, while the third scout smiled. They remembered her previous scolding.

"Lunch was made, came down here to get you guys. Go and get something to eat, go on." She stepped out of the way as all three argued while they raced for food. "So, Rousseau, saw you were having some fun?"

"Ah, zhe scouts are fun, when zhey don't tap zheir fingers on zhe glass." He said, arms crossed and over the edge of the tank, while the rest of him floated in the water.

"Here, I brought your lunch to you." She pulled out a sandwich. "Heavy decided today was to be Sandwich day, so to avoid him rampaging through the building, every Tuesday will be all sandwiches."

"It is 'ard to zink zhey 'ave killed people." Rousseau said. "Do...kills 'appen often?" He bit into his sandwich, glad to find it was a meat-filled one.

"In bigger bases, I'd imagine so," Madeline said, simply. "Ones with more people, it's hard enough for a medic to watch eight or nine other teammates, any more than that, things get out of hand. You won't get to everyone in time."

"...'Ave jou killed anyone?" He asked. Madeline paused, thinking it was odd he was asking her this so timidly, when he had killed scouts days ago, and eaten human flesh to top that off.

"No, Rousseau." She answered. "I've only been in bases of eight or nine at most, and I've only been employed almost...two months?" Madeline was worried by the fact she couldn't remember how long she had been a mercenary for BLU. "I have more encounters involving me nearly killed, rather than the other way around."

"Wha-qui!" Madeline finished her sandwich.

"It was the enemy medic, also a woman, like me." She wrapped her arms over her chest. "That was before coming here. Things like that happen."


	13. Ivam

Madeline spent most of the evening in her room, dealing with an overly-excitable sentry.

"No, Ivam, no going out." She waved her hand at him, laying in the bed with her eyes closed. She replaced her blue boots with gray slippers, and her white coat hung on a hook from the door, and with the heat, it felt good to be in just the dress she wore under it.

She could hear Ivam's wheels making the whole door vibrate, what a racket it was. Madeline jumped out of bed, she still kept Ivam a secret. She didn't want Ivam taken apart, especially without the blueprints around to be able to have him fixed. She grabbed him with both hands by his main body, lifting him off the ground.

"Gee, you're heavy for a small robot." She complained, while Ivam beeped loudly in an annoyed tone. The hood of one of his turrets opened, and inside was nothing but ammo. "Holy sh- are you eighty percent ammo, or what?" Two beeps was Ivam's answer. "Okay, that's a yes."

She put Ivam back onto the ground, and pushed the hood down till it clicked shut. "Fine. It's not too late; we'll go out." Madeline walked to the door, and grabbed the handle. "Stay next to me, that way, th- IVAM!" As she had opened the door, Ivam shot out like a rocket, whirring through the building. Madeline chased after the speedy sentry, and watched as the unknowing engineer appeared from another hallway, and too late! He tripped over Ivam, the sentry stuck under his leg.

"Gosh darn it!" He said, grabbing the sentry with a gloved and lifting it off the ground, shaking it a little. "What in tarnation is this? Ah sure didn't make it!"

"I am so sorry, Engineer!" Madeline exclaimed, grabbing Ivam from her comrades' hand, wrapping the robot in her own. "I told him to stay next to me, an-"

"Missy, where in blazes did ya' even get that darn thing?" Engineer asked, picking himself off the ground.

"Um, well..." She started. "He was made by the BLU engineer back in Viaduct; he somehow made his way into my bags before I was sent over here."

"A fellow engineer made him, huh?" He asked. Madeline nodded, and Ivam let out a few beeps. "He got any mind of his own?"

"Seems like it, but I'm not sure." She explained. "I think he just has alot of...objectives built in? And he reacts to everything."

"A robot who doesn't listen don't seem like one to just have objectives built in." Engineer chucked, and tipped his hat. "What's it called?"

"The engineer named him Ivam G." She said. "Interactive Vehicular Automated Machine Gun. But he responds to Ivam." She began explaining most of his weight was ammo, Ivam's gunpower equaled a level two stationary sentry, about his gun lockdown safety button, and how he liked to run around.

"Well, if he wants to run around, let him." Engineer said. "Ah'll make sure to tell everyone to leave him alone. So long as he stays painted blue, no one should mess with him too much. Call me iff'n he ever need a tire change." With a thank-you from Madeline, he took off, continuing to go wherever it was he was going.

Madeline set Ivam on the ground, and he began going off at a walking-pace for Madeline, letting her keep up with him. Eventually Ivam stumbled upon Rousseau's tank, and as he rushed foreward to record everything he saw, Rousseau dipped into the water and backed into a corner.

"Hi Rousseau," She greeted. "It's alright, his ammo is locked, and he's just... taking your picture. To remember this moment." She snickered under her breath. "His first time meeting you."

"Oh mon dieu," He said, after surfacing. "Zhey put zhem on wheels now?"

As she went about her day, Madeline showed whoever was awake Ivam, and by the time she woke up, everyone would know about him. Surprisingly to her, Ivam got on Medic's good side, ramming into a cabinet so a box would fall onto him, and he brought the doctor bandages. Cute as it was, the Medic was in need of sterile syringes, not bandages.


	14. The File Returns

HIM OR US

Madeline sorted through paperwork, one of the scouts had managed to sneak into BLU, after the team received a tip that a RED train had delivered ammunition, food, extra mercenaries, it was possible a briefcase of information was there. It was only being held for the day by RED, before it was to be moved, and what a lucky tip; a briefcase it was, and a RED briefcase BLU now had.

"The extra mercenaries are going to be so troublesome." She sighed, loud enough for the other medic, tending to a Scout's leg, to hear her.

"Ja, I swear, I saw TWO different Soldiers." He said. "TWO. Let us hope zhey did not get a second Heavy Weapons, ja?"

"Yeah, lets hope they didn't." Madeline replied. As she flipped through the manila folders, she found a familiar label.

A folder labeled 'RzUYW3ZWs'

She opened it, inside was everything. All the original documents, photos, notes, along with the papers the deported Spy had found or written, tucked in neatly together with paperclips.

"Hey, Medic," She said, head tilted towards her shoulder. "Has this base had alot of troubles with deportation? You mentioned the Soldier, and..."

"Honestly, ja." He replied. Medic answered too quickly for Madeline to be comfortable. "Everyone but I und zhe Scouts were deported here. Und of course, zhey did zhings to have BLU come to deport zhem again. After zhe Soldier incident, zhe company zhreatened to rig zhe place vith bombs."

"...They can't do that!" Madeline gulped. "I thought companies don't allow the death of their workers?"

"Zheir workers are zhe paper pushers who try to use contracts to buy all zhe land RED owns." Medic explained. "We are zheir tools vhen zhe paper pushers are failures at zheir jobs." Medic told the Scout that he was going to be fine, and that he could leave.

"It was a threat though, right? BLU didn't really put bombs all over this fort, right?" She grew more nervous. He didn't tell her about bombs.

"Zhey did. Zhere is probably six... no, eight bombs in zhis med bay, alone." He said.

Madeline quickly shut the folder. "Medic, this folder in my hands is the reason I was deported." She remembered he praised honesty.

"...VHAT?" He yelled. "Vhat do you mean, you have zhe file!"

"It was in the RED briefcase, just like how the last time I found this!" She dropped the file back on the table, and pushed her fingers through her light brown hair. "It's information that's most likely on Rousseau, too!" She covered her mouth; she probably shouldn't say how much she knew out loud like that.

"Zhey vill not zend anyvone to get you, Madeline!" He said, trying to keep his voice down. "Zhe Soldier vill try to kill zhem und you!"

"We can't just let this place blow up!" Madeline groaned. "This is all on me, everyone else here knows nothing about the file!"

"Und Rousseau?" Medic said, hands shaking. "Vas zhat file hidden?"

"Yeah, the Spy at Viaduct knew about this, he looked into it, he was deported to Viaduct because of this file, and when it made it to me, I got three other people deported." She muttered. "I shouldn't tell you, you're going to get in trouble too!"

"Nein, Madeline, if BLU co. finds out ve even have zhis, zhey vill probably ignite zhe bombs!" Medic began pacing the room.

"Crap, crap, crap!" Madeline began to really panic. "If they take the files, they're probably going to take Rousseau too."

"You have to let zhem!" Medic warned. "I am zorry, it is him or all of us!"

Madeline froze. BLU co. would take Rousseau along with the files? She teared up at the thought.

"No!" She screamed. "They don't know anything about him." Medic put up his hands, trying to calm his medic comrade down. "No, Medic. They won't know how to take care of him, they'll treat him like an animal!"

Medic grabbed Madeline in his arms. "Fraulein, it vill be okay. BLU vill not kill him." He could feel his coat grow wet as she cried on his arm.

"I'm so sorry, last time, I-I got everyone d-deported, and and now, I...I..."


	15. Removal

Madeline and Medic confused the rest of the team, both were worried and that was obvious to everyone, but neither would tell anyone why. Even the scouts and the Spy gave up trying to pry information from the two.

It ate at Madeline that if BLU workers showed up, something was going to happen. She couldn't get it out of her mind that someone was probably going to die.

"Madeline? What is wrong with jou?" Rousseau asked, hovering over her as she sat on the gray tiled floor, leaning her back on the glass. She gave him a depressed mumble. "Madeline, jou 'ave been acting zo funny! Please, tell me what is wrong, maybe I can 'elp?"

Medic peered from around the corner, and the two looked over, noticing him.

"M-Madeline?" Medic said, sweat dotting his face. "B-BLU just showed up!"

"Oh, God." Madeline bit her lip, mind racing. She thought maybe if they hid the tank, they wouldn't think Rousseau was around, but if they knew she found a plain folder, they knew Rousseau would be here. That, and a tank with gallons upon gallons of water in it didn't dissapear into thin air. Madeline grabbed one of the chairs littering the hallway, and climbed onto it next to the tank. "Rousseau,"

He surfaced, and she tightly wrapped her arms around him, and he floated there, confused even more by her.

"Whatever happens, Rousseau," She whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Rousseau put his hands on her shoulders, prying her off, and stared her in the face. "Madeline, what are jou talking ab-"

"Step away from the Spy, Ma'am." Said a stern, unknown voice. Both looked to see a dozen men in dark blue tuxedos spill into the hallway. "Step away from the Spy or forceful action will be taken, ma'am."

"What has he even done that was so bad for BLU?" She asked, arms spread. Rousseau knew it wouldn't work, but instinct told him to at least try to hide behind Madeline.

"Classified, please step away from the Spy, ma'am." The same man asked again.

"Why does BLU even want to move him?" She asked, anger showing vocally.

"Classified, now please step away from the Spy." He repeated. When she showed through her body language that she was refusing their order, two jumped her, and pinned her to the ground.

"Madeline! What are jou-" Rousseau was interrupted by the feeling of hands grabbing him by the wrist, and dragging his heavy body out of the tank. Madeline, pinned to the ground, could hear Rousseau yell in pain as his body was dragged up and over the edge of the glass.

"Let him go!" She yelled out, from underneath the two men pinning her down. She heard a wet _splat!_ as Rousseau was dropped to the ground. "What are you doing to him!"

"We're here to take him to BLU HQ." One said out to her. "The rest is classified."

"Lâchez-moi!" Rousseau yelled. "Lâchez-moi!" Madeline was picked up off the ground by one of the tuxedo men, firmly held by the wrists behind her back. She felt strong twinges of pain shoot up her arm when she struggled.

"Rousseau! ROUSSEAU!"

"Madeline!"

"Someone, hold down the limbs! The limbs!"

"I want one man on every limb, including arms!

"Madeline! 'Elp me! 'Elp!"

"Rousseau! I can't-Rousseau!"

"Who has the tranquilizer? We need to knock this _thing_ out if we're going to move him"

"Here, boss. Administer now, he's secured."

"Madel-Ow! Qui font mal! That... Tha-that...Made..."

"Rousseau!"


	16. Life Without the Spy

Madeline watched as each man on Rousseau slowly let go, cautious if he woke up.

"Sir, he is out." One said, and as the others held him to lay on his side, he began bonding the Spy's arms behind his back.

"Please, let him go," Madeline pleaded. "Hire him officially onto BLU, I don't care, just don't take him away."

"See, this is why I was against women in the workforce; They get _attached_." One man complained, helping others bind the thick black tentacle limbs together. "Just watch; next they're going to want equal pay."

Madeline had to watch as the crowd cleared, and Rousseau tugged away by rope outside into the heat and sun. After several minutes, Madeline was let go, and noticed Medic was held against his will from helping, but once released, he ran to pick up Madeline off the floor.

"Madeline, Madeline, listen to me." Medic said, he could feel Madeline shaking. "Listen to me, Madeline, everyzhing is going to be okay, it vill be okay, Madeline."

"How is it okay!" She shrieked. Other BLU mercenaries had creeped into the hall, wondering what the screaming was about, and now only left to see Medic, Madeline, and an empty tank, with her sobbing about how doctors are supposed to help people, not have them sent to their deaths echoing in the halls.

"Where is fish man?" Heavy asked, only to have the few around him shrug. "Why does leetl girl cry?"

One of the scouts approached the medics. "Uh, guys? Where'd the octopus spy go?"

"He's gone, herr Scout." Medic told him, for Madeline.

"Gone where, he's a fuckin' squid! Outside de building is all desert!" He complained, shaking his hands in the air. The Scout realized moments later he only made Madeline much more upset than before. "Aww, gee..."

* * *

Over the next few days, depression hung in the base like a plaque; anyone who tried to help Madeline out of her guilt and depression only became moreso themselves. Even when the alarms rang out that RED was attacking, she was out of it.

"Madeline, take zhe second floor, watch zhe Sniper, Soldier, und Demoman; I vill be vith Heavy."

"Okay." She answered quickly, grasping the handles of the tiny medigun, and trudging out, head low.

It was hard to put up a defense, for the BLU team. The RED team were given more mercenaries, an extra Soldier, Pyro, and Demoman, as the BLU team found out when it was over. Even though the Scouts couldn't get into the RED base to steal whatever information they had, tips from the Sniper said they most likely had nothing. No trains had shown up since the last, and with the sentries in the basements, it was decided they would defend till RED backed off, instead of trying to break into RED base.

Madeline stood behind a cement-brick wall, ready to take out enemy arrows and mend bullet wounds til after the fight when they could be removed. Medic approached from the other end of the second floor outdoor deck.

"Zhey have stopped for zhe day, zhey are retreating." He said, grinning. Medic was always proud of his team's hard work. The Sniper lowered his gun, and grinned back.

"They're jus' no fun no more, ain't that roight, Do-" Madeline looked up, startled by the sudden gunshot. The Soldier had jumped enough to fall off the deck, taking the demoman with him when he grabbed anything for balance.

"Ach! Sniper!" Medic yelled, as the man he was just talking to fell to the floor, bleeding from the head. Madeline dragged herself off the floor, running over.

She rolled him onto his back, taking a pulse by habit, though she knew he was dead. Madeline sighed as she looked over his head. "...it's a through-and-through, Medic. We need to get off the deck. Now, before our own heads are blown off." He nodded to Madeline, and the two quickly grabbed the deceased Sniper, and made quick timing into the med bay.

"Ach, great. I vill call for a replacement later today." He sighed. "At least ve did not lose him vhen ve had to put up a solid defense, ja?" Medic saw Madeline leaning against the wall.

"Yeah." She replied, depressingly. "Medic? What happens to someone who dies here?"

"I have been instructed to send all mercenaries home, unless zhey have no one to be sent to," He answered. "Zhey end up staying around zhe base long after death. Vhy?"

"Just wondering," She said. "No one's die since I join BLU."

"Ah, zhat was your first death?" Medic asked. "Ja zhat...zhat vas not a good first one."

"Are any deaths infront of you good?" Madeline huffed.

"Madeline, do not be like zhat." Medic said, sternly. "Just because you vant to stay depressed forever does not mean I vant to." He left the room, to call BLU for a replacement sniper.


	17. Return

"Madeline, zhe train is coming, can you go out to greet zhe Sniper?" Medic asked, tending to a stubborn Soldier with a sore arm.

"Sure. I'm not doing anything." She said, nearly monotone. "Come along, Ivam." She patted her leg, and the sentry zoomed out from under one of the beds, slowing down to be at her walking pace.

As she stepped out into the hot air, squinting, she could see the train approaching. Madeline only had to wait a few minutes before the train slowed down. Several men hopped out of the train, overalls over their BLU logo shirts, and they handed crates of food down, stacking them right inside the garage door-sized entrance. A man with yellow visors and a face shaded by his hat stepped off, brown vest in one hand and a bow in the other, a rifle and empty quiver on his back. He was looking at the ground, as he slid off the train, he obviously hadn't stretched his legs in some time.

"Hello, Sniper. I'm Madeline, one of the two medics, and-"

"Madeline?" He looked up, snatching his visors off his face. She was startled by his sudden speaking. It was the Sniper from Viaduct. "This 'ellhole is where they went an' sent ya'?"

"Wha-you! It's you!" Madeline covered her mouth, in disbelief. "Why were you sent here?"

"Well, BLU told my base that 2Fort was needin' a good sniper replacement, I was one of three back at th' base I was deported to." He stretched. "So glad I'm in dry heat again, just like back home. Madeline, if someone tells you to go an' visit Coldfront, don't."

"I'm so glad to see you're okay." She smiled. It hurt her inside to smile, she felt guilty, being so happy after what happened. The smile didn't last long.

"Why didn't you jump off the train?" He asked. Madeline grabbed him by his arm, and led him into the air conditioned building.

"What? I wasn't going to jump at all!" She told him. "I was trying to pull you to me."

"Wow, such miscommunication there." He scratched at his neck, looking awkwardly away.

"Seems so. I can show you the ammunition closet, and your room." Madeline led him to the double doors by the empty tank, opening the hatch and letting the doors swing open.

"Whot's this tank for?" He asked, tapping the glass. "Nothin' even innit?"

"Oh, that? It's...just always been here." Madeline lied. She didn't want to explain. She didn't want him in trouble, again. She didn't want to remember, remember how helpless she was. How scared he was. How much her fault it was.

"Ah, roight then." He said, not pressing for answers. "My room?"

Madeline led him to the hallway where every door led to a bedroom, and at the end was the showers. A whirring noise echoed down the hall, and the two turned around.

"Ivam? Where were you, you ran off again, didn't you?" She bent down and patted the sentry, who circled Sniper, camera clicking away.

"W-whot's that?" He asked, gripping his hat, and trying to avoid stepping on the tiny turret.

"The engineer at our base in Viaduct built him, when we were getting deported, he somehow got into my bags. Call him Ivam, he'll listen." She explained. "Ivam, if Sniper calls you, you listen. Got that, you chunk of junk on wheels?"

With a few high pitched beeps, Ivam rolled off and around a corner into Madeline's room.

* * *

"Ya' know I'd rather 'ave Madeline be lookin' at my arm." Sniper said, with a scowl.

"It cannot be helped, she is asleep, und I am avake." Medic replied, bandaging gauze to the Sniper's arm, thin stripes of dried blood trailed down to his wrist. RED had tried again a week after Sniper joined to get their intelligence.

The BLU team still managed to hold them off, but everyone was getting worn from the constant hard defense, and from that, people were slipping up. A scout forgot to run fast enough to jump onto the roof over the bridge; fractured his leg. Demoman ignited his stickies while too close. Soldier's aim was off, he was firing too close to himself, injuring himself and anyone near. The Pyro could barely keep up, moving at Heavy's pace. And people were getting struck with arrows and pistol bullets left and right.

"She's been asleep awhile, mate." He mentioned. "Ya' sure she's even okay?"

"Zhe Fraulein is only tired; I made zhe mistake of being cut off from zhe team, she vas left to help everyone." Medic replied, frowning. "I von't let it happen again."

"I've been worried 'bout 'er since th' day she got away from me." Sniper said, as Medic finished with his arm.

"You know her from before, ja?" Medic asked, interested.

"We were both stationed in Viaduct, yeah?" He motioned with his hands as he talked. "I got wrapped up in her deal with some file about a Spy, an' we both got deported to different bases."

"Ah, so, you und Madeline are friends." Medic said. "You can go. I zuggest you sleep." And with a jump off the edge of the bed, Sniper headed to his room.

As he opened the door, he noticed the door across from his open.

"Eghhh...I shouldn't." Sniper opened his door wider, but heard a feminine voice, causing him to pause.

"Oh, Ivam, I miss him. All the time." He heard beeping replies to Madeline's voice. Sniper couldn't bring himself to peer into her room; he respected privacy like no one else. "I... I'm going crazy, I keep thinking BLU wanted him to finishing destroying all the evidence." He could hear more erratic beeping. "Maybe they didn't get all the files here. I could look." More beeping, and the sound of wood scraping wood. "...I have to know. I can't sit here and just wonder if he's still alive."

Sniper ducked out of the doorway, and just in time, because the door opened, and Madeline rushed by him, buckling her belt, buttoning her coat.

"Madeline?" He asked, wide-eyed. "Where on Earth are ya' goin'? It's late."

She turned, Madeline looked over her shoulder. "Sniper...I, I can't tell you, okay? I don't want to risk you getting in trouble." She tucked a few papers into her coat.

"Madeline, we _are_ comrades," He said, walking towards her. "Anythin' you need 'elp with, I'm all up for helpin' ya'."

"No, Sniper." Madeline was followed by Ivam down the hallway, and he stood there, braindead in the hallway.

"...Fine, then." Sniper departed into his room.

* * *

Madeline exited through the single door, next to the locked garage-sized one. Looking up, she noted the black camera, and she pulled out the papers infront of it.

"You want the rest of the file? Take me to BLU HQ, and you can have them."


	18. The Prize

"Madeline? Madeline!" Yelled Medic. Nearly everyone was eating breakfast together, and Medic had barraged them with questions, nearly in a Soldier-like manner, wondering where the girl had went.

"Yo', would'ya STOP YELLIN', mah ears bleed enough when ol' Soldier's 'round!" Scout said, with a mouthful of cereal.

"Scout, Frau Madeline has been missing for two _days_ now!" He sighed, covering his face. "Vhere could she be?"

"Whot, ya've been lookin' for 'er, still?" Sniper mumbled, picking at his plate of food. "I think she left."

Medic's head snapped towards the Sniper, who didn't look up back at him. "Vhat makes you zhink zhat frau Madeline has left?"

"Heard her talkin' to that tiny senty she got," He said, pausing to take a bite. "She left me in th' middle of th' 'allway, I saw 'er turn out th' back doors where stuff from th' train comes through."

It wasn't even half a minute before Medic had Sniper pinned to the wall, hands on his shoulders. "VHERE IS SHE?"

"Look mate, I don't know anythin' about it!"

"TELL ME EVERYZHING YOU DO KNOW." Medic's yelling had halted all conversation at the table.

"Look, doc'," Sniper said, hands up. "I heard 'er say she missed some guy, something about 'aving t' know. Offered my help, an' she went an' turned me down 'n left." Medic slowly stopped his glaring, and dropped Sniper.

"Oh, nein..." He sighed. Medic held his face in his gloved hands, and breathed deep, calming down. "How could she?"

"Whot's she gone 'n done, exactly?" Sniper asked.

"I have a feeling she has gone to BLU headquarters." He said. After a minute or two, Medic looked back at Sniper. "You vere pulled into this Spy mess, ja? Come vith me."

* * *

"I don' believe this tripe for a second!"

"Vhy else vould ve even have a tank, ja?"

"An octo-spoy? Really? c'mon, Doc'. Really."

Medic had explained everything to Sniper, after warning him that BLU would now most likely come after them both.

"Sniper, I am telling you zhe truth!" Medic proclaimed. "Und now zhe company is going to deport us, or vorse."

"Then why are ya' tellin' me all this, doc'?" Sniper asked, leaning on the concrete wall. "You're gettin' yourself deported, with Madeline gone, you're this teams' last medic!"

"I am telling you because you have been involved in zhis before;" He answered, adjusting his glasses. "You have known Madeline longer, und you were zhe last to see her."

"...But yer gonna get yourself deported." Sniper repeated.

"I don't care." Medic said, sharply, before continuing in a calmer tone. "She has managed to stay so kind, I vould do anyzhing for her. Let BLU come, let zhem take us! If Madeline is at BLU HQ, zhen ve should find her zhere."

"Roit, well, since I'm gonna be takin' off wit' ya', I'm up for helpin' ya'." Sniper grinned. "How long does BLU take t' show their ugly mugs 'ere?"

"Only a few days." Medic answered him.

* * *

"Seems BLU _really_ likes anyone t'do wit' this file, eh?" Sniper groaned. His arms were tied tight together behind his back, and the Medic had been handcuffed.

"Oh, you should have seen how zhey took ...another comrade." Medic said. "Zhey tranquilized him, und no part of him was not tied off or down."

"Damn, so we got it easy, ya' sayin'?" Sniper asked, to which Medic just nodded.

"Right, even though this is only your first offense, doctor, this happens to be a severe case, in which you caused this man a second serious offense." The blue tuxedoed man explain. "You both are going straight to the headquarters."

"An' wot's gonna 'appen there?" Sniper asked, when another man helped him off the bench, not letting go of his ropes.

"Most mercenaries who end up having to go to HQ usually never leave the building." The man replied. "Let's go." The two men led the mercenaries into the back of a white van, and they drove off through the desert.

* * *

Sniper motioned with his head at Medic, and the two leaned towards the cab, listening.

"Why is BLU giving the company such a hard time? Has there ever been so many deportation cases in any other year? Decade, even?"

"This generation is going to Hell; BLU keeps recruiting younger and younger people. You know they let women in now? Ahh, soon enough they're going to hire kids under twenty-five for _every_ class."

"Tchh, that'll be the day."

"At least we're not doing their jobs. Can you imagine? Being one of those nuts?"

Medic and Sniper scowled at the mens' comments on their team; They worked for the same company as them. Hell, they were definitely paid much more, their yearly salary is what most of the classes made in half that time.

After a long span of time, the double-doors of the van opened. The two had fallen asleep, it was morning now. The taller of the two men grabbed Sniper by his bonds, and carelessly let him drop to the ground.

"Augh! Ya'd think a priss of a man would take more care of a "nut" who's killed more men than 'e'd ever even know!" Sniper groaned at the pain radiating up his back, as Medic was pulled out the same way, only he could see it coming; he managed to land on his knees, rather than his backside.

"Oh my..." Medic gasped at the giant gray building, with the BLU logo on the glass doors, while the man who let Sniper drop to the ground helped back up.

"Right, inside. Now." The other man said, and each man took a mercenary to push into the building. The first thing Sniper noticed was how clean the building smelled. It wasn't a kind type of clean, but one you'd find in an obsessors' home. It was like the floors were _made_ of bleach and cleaners.

Eventually, after failing to keep track of the turns and room numbers they saw, the two were untied and uncuffed, and locked into one room, '409' painted on the frosted glass window with blue paint.

"Well, it's a nice room, at least," Sniper admitted. "Bit cramped though, innit?"

"Can you explain _why_ you two are here?" Yelled a haggardly voice over a radio. The two looked around, there weren't any speakers, it was an empty room. "Yes, you imbeciles, I _am_ talking to _you_ two. Explain yourselves!"

"Hey, lady," Sniper said, hand on his hat. "We're not children."

"No, you're _worse_," Sighed the voice. They could tell it was a woman, but either she smoked four packs a day, or she was seriously old. "You're _children_ with _weapons_ that work for me!"

"Ma'am," Medic said, fiddling with his fingers. "We got ourselves in trouble in order to find out where the oth-"

"That little lovesick bird of a medic?" The voice finished for him. "It was so cute it was _disgusting_, I nearly threw up my lunch."

"Vha-vhere is she?" Medic yelled, angered.

"Rousseau! Where's Rousseau! He better not be hurt!" Madeline's voice was heard over the speakers, followed by the sound of a tape rewinding, and with a click of a button, "Rousseau! Where's Rousseau! He better not be hurt!"

"Madeline!" Medic gasped. "Vhere is she?"

The voice chuckled. "You have no weapons, no backup; you're the weakest of the bunch, and it's only you to together." The two heard a click in the brief silence. "The door is unlocked, but I propose a challenge."

"Challenge?" Sniper asked, looking around. "Loik wot? Whoever finds th' girl first gets whot, loik, a prize?"

"Sure, whoever finds that lovesick medic who won't shut up about that disfigured spy will get a prize," Said the voice, excitedly. "The prize will be that you won't die."


	19. Crazy

"Vhat do ve do? Do ve split up or do ve stick together, split up, stick together, spli-" Medic groaned into his palms.

"Doc, look, don' worry," Sniper said, grabbing his teammates arm. "Let's focus on gettin' Madeline out of 'ere." Sniper took off down a random hall, draggin Medic along. The two stopped every intersection, looking at signs, pointing them into the right direction.

They noticed a pair of navy blue metal doors at the end of a hallway.

"That's where she is, I bet!" Sniper pointed out. He sprinted towards the doors, Medic close behind him. The two adult men struggled to force the handles to budge, and once the lever-style handle was pushed down all the way, Sniper held on while Medic wrapped his arms around the Sniper's long torso, and helped pull.

"God, dammit, why's th' door so heavy?" He groaned through his teeth, as the metal door creaked open. This door would be like ripping plastic to the Heavy Weapons, and sadly, Sniper wasn't a Heavy Weapons.

"Ja, stop! Zhe door is open enough!" Medic said, letting go of his BLU teammate, and sliding sideways through to door, to which Sniper followed suit, into the dark, dome room.

Unlike the rest of the building, this room just _reeked_ of something rotten, and it didn't take long to figure out why. Sniper covered the lower half of his face with his hat, and Medic's hands glued themselves to his mouth and nose.

"Vhut us zhut _SHMULL_?" Medic said nasally, and mouth-covered.

"I think it's dead bodies, Doc'." Sniper told him.

"W-who's there? Let me out, please!" pleased a voice.

"Madeline!" The two noticed her, tied up in a chair before a tank filled with murky water. Sniper untied her, as Medic calmed her down. Her hair was a mess, blood caked her bangs into clumps, the glass in her frames were cracked, blood smudged on them, and small circles in thick strips were all over her uniform. "Madeline, vhat is all zhis on you?" The same circles marked her face, spots of dried blood making up the circlets.

"Medic? Sniper? Help, we've got to help Rousseau, t-they did something to him a-and-"

"Well, well, _well!_" Boomed an excited, yet still haggard old voice over speakers. "It seems the Sniper reached the girl first! Medic, you've _failed!_"

Three doors open, and two men from each poured out, decked in riot cop armor, colored company colors, and surrounded the Medic before anyone knew what had started.

"No! Medic, MEDIC!" Madeline shrieked.

"Herr Sniper! Get Madeline out! _Bitte!_" Medic yelled, hand waving over the crowd of men. "Get Rousseau und Madeline out, by any means necessary!" Sniper heard, and managed to grab Madeline before she charged headfirst into the company men.

"No! Medic! We'll help you too! Don't worry! Please!" Madeline kicked and struggled against Sniper. "Sniper! Let go! We have to-! we have to-!"

"Madeline, 'e's gone," Sniper let go as a quieted Medic dissapeared behind doors. "...'E's gone."

Madeline let her shrieks and sobs echo the building. Sniper approached quickly yet cautiously.

"Medic...Madeline, we need t' get Rousseau, and get th' hell outta 'ere." He said, grabbing her shoulder. "C'mon, up an' attit. Where's Rousseau?"

She sniffled, before pointing to the murky tank she was restrained in front of. Sniper walked up to it, and put his hands on the glass, peering inside. "Sniper? I-I w-"

Sniper jumped back, startled as Rousseau appeared out of nowhere, tentacles and hands pressed against the glass, clawing at it. Sniper grabbed his hat back away from the tank with fingertips, slowly plopping it back onto his head.

"Madeline, ya' wanna save _that_ crazy thing?" He yelped.

"No, no, Sniper, these, these other BLU Medics came in," She spoke quickly. "-"

"Madeline, mile a minute; cool it."

"Medics came in. They injected him with, with something! And it's like he's, I don't know, _feral!_" She said, breathing. "He acts like he doesn't know me.

Sniper chuckled nervously, eyes open wide. "Ehe, uh, yeah, sweet cakes? I love ya' that yer' so sweet, but I am _not_ sticking _anything_ near that thing!"

"Then we'll get him out of the tank!" Madeline proposed, weakly pulling herself off the floor, and rummaged through the several tables near the tank, all the while, Rousseau followed her, eyes like a hungry shark. "Ha, got it! She shifted back out from under a white table, sliding a box out, with a black label on the side. "Sniper!"

He ran over to her. "I told ya' I don't think it's a good idea t- ...Those are Mann Co. weapons."

"Exactly; BLU orders them from Mann Co., then they're sent to the bases." She grinned as she pulled out a rocket launcher, a weapon made for the Soldier class.

"Uh uh! Naw!" Sniper pushed the explosive weapon back into the box. "We are _not_ firin' that!"

"Of course not 'we', Sniper," She said, grinning. "This is a one-woman weapon." She turned and firing a rocket at the opposite end of the tank the Spy Rousseau lurked at.

"_you foolish girl,_" chuckled a voice on the speakers. "_This is why I allowed women into the company; everything that has ensued has caused chaos. I expected conflicts and mercenary distraction, and this, haha, this is what I get!_"

* * *

With shattered glass and water everywhere, Sniper grabbed Madeline by the shoulders, causing her to drop the launcher. "Woman are you _insane_? Whot th' **HELL** is wrong with ya'? Now that, that **THING** is goin' t' **EAT US.**"

He watched a smile spread itself on her face.

Sniper looked away as he heard snarling. The Spy, palms flat on the floor, was panting and baring sharp teeth. He hunched his shoulders, before pushing his way to the duo.

"M-Madeline, he's coming for us!" Sniper said. She grabbed his hands, and dropped them.

"It's okay, Sniper." She continued smiling, before turning towards the tentacled spy charging at her.

"Madeline, whot th' hell are ya' doin'? That, that thing is dangerous!" Sniper hissed. But to his heavy disappointment, she simply opened her arms.

"Rousseau," She said.

"Madeline don't you just stand there an-" Too late. The Spy lunged, tentacles wrapping quickly around her legs, and he bit into her arm.

"M-Madeline..?" Sniper watched as blood gushed from the corner of Spy's mouth, soaking her sleeve.

"It's okay, Sniper," She sighed. "It doesn't hurt so bad, now that it's over."

"Whot do ya' mean 'over'? He ain't done chewin' on ya'!" As Sniper approached, Rousseau glared up at him, and growled.

"Rousseau," Madeline sighed a sigh twinged with pain. "Rousseau, it's me, Madeline." She rubbed his shoulder with the hand opposide of her wounded arm, inciting more growls, and he clenched harder.

"Madeline, I'm going to blast that thing's brains out with a gun, I'll be back." Sniper backed away, heading back towards the Mann Co. crate.

"Don't worry Rousseau," Madeline cooed. "Don't you worry."

"Madeline, you've gone bonkers." She looked up at him, through her bloodstained glasses. "Absolutely bonkers." He loaded ammo into a small handgun he had found in the crate. Madeline turned her head and stroked Rousseau's cheek.

"Remember the first thing I brought you to eat?" She chuckled. "It was sausages; after one bite, you swallowed the rest whole. And the scouts, you remember them? You remember playing catch with the boys, right?"

Sniper shook. She risked her life to get dragged into BLU HQ just to find out if this _monster_ of a man was still alive. She then risked her life using an out-of-class rocket launcher to shook a tank, and let the man inside crawl to her and bite deeply.

And now she's sitting there, reminiscing with it, and cooing at it as if it's a kitten.

"Remember Pyro? He'd always give you a cookie at midnight." She giggled. "You didn't like the ones with rasins, you liked chocolate chip."

"Madeline, I don't think we-" Sniper stopped himself. "Madeline. Whot we need t' do is get th' hell outta here."

"Drugs only last so long." She said, in a euphoric tone. "I-I've bled alot."

"Madeline, we need t' get out. Maybe we can strike a deal with the boss here an-"

"With what, Sniper?" She said, keeping a hapy tone to keep Rousseau relaxed, and he noticed she even started to slightly rock. "I gave them the last papers of his file just to see him, we have nothing to give."


	20. Belong to Her

"Well, what are you _doing_? Get out of my building, and go back to your base, the two of you."

Madeline looked up. "I'm not leaving this building without Rousseau, ma'am." She looked around, the voice echoed in the dome room. "I'm sorry, I can't come this far to just leave him, ma'am."

"Yer' a crazy bitch, lady!" Sniper yelled. "Talkin' over a radio, controllin' everything from afar, from machines to human beings!"

"I'm not a lady of time;" The old voice spat. "And you have _nothing_ to bargain with."

"Yer' wrong!" Sniper yelled, voice echoing back to him faintly. "We 'ave one thing left."

Madeline groaned from her wound, which the tentaspy Rousseau still had his teeth into. Through the ripped fabric, the punctures had started to swell. "Oh, Rousseau..."

"My life. I'll bargain my life."

Madeline's mind came back to Earth for a second. "Sniper, I don't want you dead, too, y-"

"Madeline, Medic said to get ya' out; by any. Means. Necessary." He reminded her. "Ma'am, You did somethin' to Rousseau. Fix it, and..." He paused. "And, I'll stay, in his place."

"You _imbiciles_ just do not understand." The voice said. "There _is_ a reason why love_sick_ medic and her little _pet_ are here."

"Then tell me why!" Madeline growled, trying to avoid yelling, with Rousseau tightening his tentacles around her legs and teeth reaching bone.

"It is a program that was supposed to stay a _company_ secret; it got out. RED had gotten ahold of the information, and threatened to _release_ said information. Once I was sure the files were in BLU's hands, it dissapeared." Madeline paused, thinking. She knew who caused the file to become lost. Spy. He's the reason anything got out in the first place, so claimed the boss.

"And I have been tracking these papers down for _years_, you see. And the last, oh-so-ever important pages were _given_ to me, in the hopes that this _lovesick puppy_ of a mercenary would get her sweet Spy back. I won't have it! I had this program run so more chaos would happen, on the battlefield of bases by water! He is _my_ Spy, my mercenary, I own him, just like how I own _you._"

A silent pause. A sharp inhale from Madeline broke the tension, with a slight "Ahh" followed. Rousseau let go, tentacles tightening around her, while blood dribbled out, resoaking her sleeve.

Rousseau jerked as a door opened, light spilling in. One man walked in, and tossed a box, and it landed by Sniper's boot. "Courtesy of the boss."

Sniper sat on his knees, grabbing the box. Inside was a single syringe, a pale orange substance inside. Judging from the bubbles by tilting the box, it was a thick gelatinous substance. "Madeline?" She looked up, and her face turned from Sniper to the syringe. "That's for Rousseau, innit?"

"You do it; I have to hold him."

"Madeline, ya've bled enough, let me j-"

"No, Sniper."

Sniper groaned at her demands, but followed her instructions. Madeline wrapped her arms around Rousseau, struggling against her, and Sniper managed to get the needle into the crook of his arm, and he pushed on the plunger as quick as it would go.

"Did-did it work?" Sniper looked over Rousseau. It took a few minutes for any effects to show, but they did.

"It did, he's letting go, his tentacles are getting loose." Madeline said, still holding onto him like a teddy bear. After shaking, Rousseau collasped, head in her lap. "He's going to be too heavy to move, Rousseau?" She shook his shoulder, with her non-wounded arm. He stirred.

"M-Madeline? J'ai peur, j'ai peur..." He mumbled weakly.

"Whot's he sayin'?" Sniper asked, lifting the grumbling spy's torso off Madeline.

"I don't know, it's french." Madeline replied. "Rousseau?"

"Muh...mmh, mh...M-Madeline?" He sighed.

"Rousseau, c'mon mate, we gotta go." Sniper headed for the door.

"M-Madeline?" Rousseau mumbled, tentacles twitching.

"Rousseau, it's okay, we're getting out of here."

The trio headed towards the door, voices bouncing off the walls, when a metal creaking echoed over them.


	21. Final Words

The creaking and groaning of metal grew louder, and the sound of snapping fell before the ducts above crashed to the ground, causing Sniper to drag Madeline back from the door.

"Well, we're not gettin' out that way." He groaned, and looking around the dim room, he covered his face with a free hand. "That was really th' only fuckin' exit? Where'd th' othah doors go.."

"Sniper? You smell that?" Madeline could be heard sniffing heavily.

"Whot, tha' smell of dead bodies? I think this is where BLU were makin' _more_ of those like Rousseau 'ere." Sniper replied.

"No, no, it _smells_ like...gunpowder." She sniffed out the scent more. "Smells like gunpowder and alcohol."

"Aw, _shit_." was all it took from Sniper to have Madeline turn back, to see Demoman blocking the exit.

"SO, YA' TOUGHT'CHU COULD KEEPIT A SEEEECRET, 'EY, LASSIE?" Boomed the rugged scottsmans' voice.

"Ah, Demoman! Help, we need to get out of here!" Maeline said, grinning at what appeared to be her lucky chance. His angered flailing of his arms took her aback.

"NAH WAY, LASS. MAH JOB IS TA' MAKE SURE YA' DONNAE LEAVE THIS BUILDIN'."

Sniper and Madeline remained quiet, with Rousseau between them, mumbling in what they figured to be french.

"Er, Demo, we're sorry we didn't tell ya' soona." Sniper started. "See, he's harmless. He's yer' ally!"

"NNNNO! AH'M GETTIN' PAID WELL F' THIS, RIGHT'FLLY SO!" He yelled, voice bouncing around the room for several seconds afterward. "BLU NOTICED WOT HAPPENED, AN' BLU IS PAYIN' ME TO BLOW YA' TO BLOODY GIBS!"

"Demoman, calm down." Sniper said, wary. "Ya'd do this even if ya weren't gonna be paid, we get it, ya're upset."

"DAMN RIGHT AH'M BLOODY UPSET." He boomed. "KEEPIN' SECRETS FROM YA' TEAMS GETS YA' KILLED."

"That's how you lost your eye," Madeline said. "Isn't it?"

Demoman finally calmed down, at least somewhat. "Aye, lass; I diddit tell th' Medic, he was gone an' busy, I was a youngin' an' on th' sideline, in th' back. Thought Ah'd be fine 'n dandy, but ah waited too damn long! Th' team LOST...Mah eye was too bloody ruined for anythin'.."

"Demoman, this doesn't have to happen," Madeline said. "You don't have to kill us all, you don't have to pass this on, and-"

Nay, lass, when ya' mess wit' de gunpowder..." He pulled out a pad with a blue button on it, a B painted in white. "Ya' cause de bomb t' explode!" And with ease, being a stronger class, he shut the heavy metal door.

* * *

"Man, BLU keeps an eagle's eye on th' 2Fort base, huh Madeline?" Sniper chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, cause everyone but the Medic and Scouts were deportees." Madeline said, not taking the situation as lightly. "So, what do we do?"

"I'm no expert, but prolly th' best thing ta' do is sit an' wait to die." He said, breathing heavy.

"So, er... what do we do? Say our last...goodbyes?" She choked on her words.

"Sure, some last words can work." He said. Madeline sat onto the cold tile floor, and with Sniper's help, laid Roussau flat on his back. "This is a pretty awful way t'die, I always hoped it'd be quicker..." He grumbled, sentence trailing off.

"Rousseau? Rousseau, wake up." She whispered. "You okay?"

"Madeline?" The Spy's hands went to rubbing his forehead. "What... what 'appened?"

"Rousseau, I'm so sorry," She sighed, rubbing his arm. Through holes in the fabric, she could see gray skin, flecked with syringe scars, ones caused by moving with the needle in the flesh.

"What's going on? Madeline?"

"Everything will be okay, Rousseau." She lied. Sniper couldn't help but think they should tell Rousseau the truth, but instead took the time to really look at Rousseau from the waist-down, till he sat up.

"Where are we, Madeline?"

She couldn't help it; she was a woman. Madeline wrapped her arms around him, his head on her shoulder. "It'll all be okay soon."

* * *

After a few tense minutes of silence, Sniper spoke up.

"Madeline, I love ya'."

Madeline flinched, shooting a confused look to Sniper as tentacles snaked around her ankles.

"...What?" She felt her jaw pop when it dropped. "You couldn't have _ever_ mentioned that... _a-anytime_ before _now?_"

"Not really, always figured ya would end up wit' anotha' doctor. The Medic we ...lost, seemed to like you, and th' Spy from Viaduct 'ad told me t' back off," He went on to explain he couldn't hold a candle to a possible doctor husband, telling her a mercenary war doctor-slash-hero shouldn't be with a man who lives in his camper van out in the middle of nowhere. "All that, and I'm nearin' fifty; I could be yer older brother, christs' sake."

"I... yeah, too much, the bombs, impending doom, I, I-" Madeline stuttered.

"Now, ya' don't need t' tell me if ya' love me back, or anythin'," He removed his hat, dusting it off. "I jus' wanted ya' t'know."

"I'm ... glad I got to know." Madeline smiled, though she knew it had to look awkward. Bombs were everywhere, and they were going to die.

"Ya got any last words yerself?" Sniper said, laying on the floor, doffing his hat over his face.

"I hated that file;" She said, her voice in a piercing tone. "It got me and everyone around me into trouble. It had people moved like livestock, and it's filled with men treated like lab rats." The medic paused. "For awhile, I wish I never found that stupid folder, damn humans for being too curious for our own good!" She stopped mid-rant to see the tenta-spy grabbing at his face.

"Madeline, I cannot zee anyzhing." He whined. "I do not feel zo good..."

"You were here awhile, I bet they didn't even feed you..." Madeline sighed.

"D-do jou 'ave any of those s-sausages?" Madeline replied to him with a sad "No,", before telling him to relax, and to try and sleep through it.

Sniper groaned, clutching his hat roughly, bending the brim. "Is 'e ever gonna blow us up, or are we gonna jus' starve?"

"Jou would rather be blown into many pieces?" Said a french voice.

"Oh great, they sent Spy t' kill us, were th' bombs a empty threat? Or duds?" Sniper said, out loud.

"I assure jou, I declined zee offer to kill zee both of jou." He continued, calm as can be. "I am up 'ere, in ze vent." Both Sniper and Madeline tipped their heads, and managed to see through the dim light their BLU Spy looking down on them. "I zee fille Madeline is busy, convict, jou will catch me."

"I'm gonna wot now?" Sniper asked, before Spy landed on him, though the assassin managed to stumble and fall over, rather than be crushed. "Oof! Good gravy, give a little more warnin', ya' frog-eatin' frenchie!"

"Hmph, no dirt on my suit; fine job, convict!" Spy applauded, and patted Sniper on the shoulder.

"Yeah, ya' can stop callin' me that any time." Sniper grumbled, fixing his hat and sunglasses. Spy proceeded to kneel next to Madeline.

"I came jus' for jou; I am_ leaving _BLU, come with moi, and zhey will never find jou, _ma belle fleur_." Spy grabbed her fingertips gently, kissing the back of her hand.

"Spoy, she knows I love her." Sniper brought to his attention. "An' she's said nothin' about lovin' _you_."

"Ah, but I still 'ave zhe upper 'and; Jou see, jou cannot 'elp dame Madeline out of zhis...dank place. 'Owever, _I_ can." Spy grinned the trademarked, untrusted smile.

"Spy, I'm flattered, but I've made up my mind before coming here." Madeline explained, removing her hand from his. "I'm not leaving BLU without Rousseau."

"What, zhis deformity? Madeline, s'il vous plaît. 'E is going to die. Come with moi, I will take jou to ze countryside of France, where I can provide jou with zee best; ze freshest bread, ze finest wine, ze most _flattering_ dresses. Jou cannot say jou do not know anyone as handsome as I."

"I just want to save Rousseau's life." Madeline huffed.

"Jou, are difficult." Spy huffed back. "If I manage to get Rousseau out with us, will jou come to France with me?"

"What about Sniper?" She asked. The two men scowled at eachother.

"Ya' should get yerself an' Rousseau out. That's wot ya' intended, roight?" Sniper asked, scratched-up arms crossed.

"You should get out too, we already lost Medic, the BLU base at-" Madeline was stopped mid-sentence.

"Stop zhinking about BLU, Madeline!" Spy snapped. "We are all replaceable to zhem, zhat iz why ze company 'as no qualms over killing as many as it will take to eradicate all of zhis underground project of theirs."


	22. Escape

"Ok, zo. We will go into zhis shaft; zhere were ladders when I went zhrough zhere. I can tie zhat Spy poulpe onto my back, Madeline, jou will 'ave to keep 'im calm if or when 'e wakes up." Spy continued going over the escape plan.

"Roight, let's get started, then, yeah?" Sniper grinned. But, as the trio began to move Rousseau, grumbling in his dazed state, explosions overhead sent fire, metal, and oil to rain onto them.

"Graww, great!" Sniper groaned. A few steps trying to put out the fire on the oil droplets scattered on the floor only left him with a singed sole of his boot. "This shit isn't gonna be goin' out any time soon, we need ta' go now!"

"The grate will not open!" Spy groaned as he fiddled with tiny tools, not a single one working to unlock their exit. Sniper power-walked over, and gaining speed, he lifted a boot and _CRACK!_ the grate was bent inwards. Backing up, he repeated his steps, and the grate dissapeared in the shaft, banging against all the metal sides. With the last knot done, Spy crawled in first, followed by Madeline.

"Get goin', I'll keep the drunkard busy." Sniper said.

"Convict, zat was not in ze plan!" Spy said, voice distorted from the echoing.

"Ya can try an' get 'im from behind or something, you're good at that, eh Spy?" Sniper grinned, kneeling at the entrance and peeking up. "Don' worry 'bout me, awroight?"

"...If you say so, Sniper." Madeline said, slowly, followed by her tapping on Spy's back. "Let's go, Spy."

* * *

The ambient sound of the quiet operating room was broken by the sound of metal clinking against metal. A man with a german voice muttered to himself, in a positive manner, as he selected his tools.

He couldn't think. He was supposed to be unconscious? He couldn't feel pain, but the pressure of the scalpel to the skin around his waist was real.

"I do not want...I do not want to...! Let me go docteur! " The sensation of pressure from the scalpel without the pain, he felt his heart race. "Zhis is, is wrong! Je veux rester normale..!"

It began to feel as if days passed, the patient couldn't tell a minute from five. He wanted to flinch as he felt fingers prodding inside of him. "Non, non, jou do not need jour fingers in there..!"

He wanted to sigh from relief as he felt the prodding gloved fingers leave his body. His relief was cut short, his doctor's voice spoke again, but only to himself.

"Let's see, zhis one vill vork." Metal scraped against metal as the tool was pulled from wherever he kept it. He felt something sharp poke into his flesh, retreating to get a direct route into his surgically-made opening. He felt whatever was pushed into him spread out. "Ach, zhis better be a clean cut. Zhe muscle needs to go, first."

With some time effort, he could tell the doctor cut through the muscle, he was being careful? And then, a sickening _crack!_, his mind raced faster, catching up in speed with his heart.

"My leg," he repeated in his mind, over and over. "My leg, my leg, ma jambe, ma jambe...! He is cutting off my leg, de l'intérieur à l'extérieur..!" He could hear the sounds repeat, feeling the same tools cut in the same fashion to his other leg.

"Und now, zhe attachment," The doctor chuckled, nervously. "After zhis part, not many men lived long. I hope you vill be different, Rousseau Dubois."

* * *

"How much farther?" Madeline coughed. They made it to the vents that were still left overhead the room they departed, and the oil fires sent smoke upwards into their vents.

"Eh, 'ow should I know, I did not ever get zee maps for zis place! Do not worry, ma petite, I will find a way."

"Rousseau's not being scrapped against the wall of the vent is he?" She asked. Madeline could hardly tell from such little lighting.

"Non, he iz fine." Spy replied. After climbing several more minutes, Spy stopped. "It is ze door! Madeline, we can get out of 'ere in jus' a minute." He began to fiddle with the openings' grate.

"Spy, did you start all of this?" Madeline asked, before coughing again from the smoke. "The, the boss said this was underground, the...tentaspies."

"I only stayed in BLU zo long, because of zis "_project_" of 'ers'." He said, before clearing his throat. "I joined for money; all ze money she 'as will _not_ return zose spies, zose men I knew, back to ze way they were."

"You...knew alot of the men put through this?" Madeline was shocked. There were RED and BLU spies put through this.

"Every. Zingle. One. REDs and ze BLUs. Dieu nom de Dieu, I even knew Rousseau personally, a decade ago."

"Madeline..?" Rousseau mumbled. He began moving his arms, and began to panic. Madeline gripped one of his tentacles, cool and drying.

"Rousseau, stay calm. If you don't stay calm, we will all die." She said, keeping her voice clear. "It'll all be okay, if you just stay. Calm."

"...Bon, Madeline." He said. Listening to his breathing, she could tell he was still slightly panicked.

And with a sudden crash that echoed in the hallway below them, they had their exit.

"It iz too small to go with zis octopus-man on my back." Spy grumbled, untying the knots on his torso, and Rousseau slipped like a ragdoll off him.

"Rousseau?" Madeline patted his cheek, only to get grumbling.

"It iz okay, ma belle, 'e will fade in an' out of consciousness." Spy said. "Zey used zomething...I cannot think of ze english word, but let us 'ope it was not zo strong." He slipped himself feet-first through the opening. "Madeline, push 'im down to me, quick."

Madeline fed his tentacles through the hole, before lowering him. "Grab him, grab him, he's too heavy!" Spy wrapped his arms around Rousseau's torso, and once Madeline had let go, and he sat unconscious Rousseau on the ground, he held arms out to help her the same way. Spy grabbed her around her waist as she dangled, lowering her to the floor.

Unlike with Rousseau, he hugged her tightly, gloved fingers in the length of her hair. "Let us go." Spy let her go, and grabbed the fading-into-consciousness Spy, and Madeline opened the door. He rushed out first, and she stood in the doorway. "...Madeline?"

"Sniper's still in th-" an explosion was heard from inside the building. She stared as smoke poured from doors and vents, papers bits on fire burning in the air like fireflies.

"Madeline...Madeline, ze Sniper can 'andle 'imself. Come." Spy held out a hand as she looked from him to the inside of the building. "Remember what 'e said? 'E wants jou to live."

Madeline slammed the BLU door shut, and walked to Spy. He kissed her temple before walking her to the car, and opening the back door to a sleek black car, laying Rousseau inside on the seat, and taking care to make sure no tentacle would be crushed by the door before closing it.

"...Is this your car?" She asked. Madeline couldn't help but notice it was in perfect condition, a model almost too beautiful to drive.

"But of course; I did not walk 'ere, jou know." He laughed. The man cleared his voice, and hopped into the driver's seat, while Madeline took the passengers seat. "An' now, we're off; To France!"


	23. His End

_I'm sorry chapter 23 is so short! but seeing as what's going on, I feel it a very mentally powerful chapter. Despite being short, it can stand on its own as a chapter._

_

* * *

_

Sniper trudged through the white and blue tiled hallways, smoke alarms had set off the sprinklers, which only made the ashes and the blood on the ground run, failing to put out the oil fires. He gripped his arm, a chunk of his flesh missing, muscle and bone exposed, skin red and black from burns. His clothing was singed, and his hat had holes burned through the brim. The man stumbled through the empty receptionist desk.

"A box, a box..." He mumbled, before managing to find one full of company pencils. Dumping the writing utensils, he shoved his hat into the box, and grabbed a sheet of paper, the blood on the underside of his hand staining the paper, but he wrote his words anyways. Sniper paused, and turn his head in time to avoid choking up red all over the letter. Slipping the papers in, and closing the box, he stumbled out the door, tripping over a metal grate left on the floor.

"Don't ya worry, Madeline," He grumbled, stumbling about outside, box in hand. "Mah g-good friend f-from Coldfront...he'll find ya, and...and y-you'll..." He collapsed by the blue metal postbox, his package stuck in the slot, taking several minutes to succumb to gravity as Sniper bled to his death on the steps of his company's headquarters.


	24. For the Lady of the House

"Christophe? Christophe, you need to get the mail."

"Did jou even zee ze mail truck zis time?"

"I saw it drive by the window, that's why I'm telling you to go get the mail. Please? For me? I'm making us all lunch."

A man with short brown hair and a hooked nose, wearing expensive blue slacks to match his expensive tie, and white button-up vest, groaned as he stepped out the door. A tiny blue and gray machine stood by the door, and with a curt "aller ailleurs, Ivam." It beeped, and rolled out of the room, and into the kitchen, he could hear her talking to little machine-gun Ivam, long since empty of ammo. As he pulled the door open. There stood a man, decked in a blue suit with a matching balaclava, a much older man than he was, judging from the wrinkles he could see.

"Ah, I believe zis," he held out a box. "Iz for ze lady of ze house?"

"Er, Merci." Christophe said, fingers grasping the box gently. As he closed the door on the blue stranger, he put his foot in Christophe's door.

"Jus' zo jou know," He said, quite quietly. "It took ze death of a friend, and my injury I took purposefully to be discharged to get zis to jou. May I come in?"

"Oh. But of course, zhen." He invited the stranger in, closing the door after he entered. "Madeline, iz zere enough food for four? We 'ave a guest."

Madeline walked in, an apron tied around the waist, and auburn hair pulled into a loose french style bun. "Well, bonjour, good sir."

"Bonjour, madame Madeline, was it? I come bringing zhis to jou." He motioned to the box Christophe held. The man handed it over, and she sat on the couch, box in her lap. After looking at it for a second Christophe knelt on the floor, quickly unveiling a butterfly knife and cutting the tape for her, kissing her cheek before siting next to her on the couch.

"I wonder what it is..." She pried the top off, revealing a singed hat reeking of oil and gunpowder. "Christophe?"

"Looks like ze hat plenty of BLU Snipers 'ad. 'elped keep ze sun out of ze eyes." Christophe said, grabbing the hat to inspect it further, while Madeline noticed an envelope fell out of the inside. Grabbing it, she ripped it open, and pulled out the old yellow paper inside.


	25. Eight Years

_"Madeline, if you are reading this, you got out alive. That's great. Spy can protect you. Good thing he took you to France. The announcer made sure I knew she blew up 2fort. Every screen in the building show it. Outside and inside. With this letter you are the only survivor of 2Fort. I killed the demoman. I'm dying as I write this. That's why there's blood. Stay safe Madeline. Keep Rousseau safe. Don't let blu find you. She wont stop. She wants you dead. She will never stop looking for you. Too much blood on paper, can't write more. Take care of my hat. - Sniper"_

"Madeline? What iz zat?" Christophe asked.

"Sniper never made it." She sighed, folding the letter back up. "For the last eight years, I thought..."

Christophe took the letter, to read it for himself. "...2Fort iz gone? Ze whole BLU 'alf?"

"All of it iz gone, my spy friend." The guest chipped in. "She blew up even ze RED 'alf."

"Ze explosion was zat big?" Christophe asked. "'ow do jou know zis?"

"I went to 2Fort, tracking my friend, zhis Sniper. I did not see 'im anywhere in ze BLU base, zo I cloaked an' went to check RED. I was in ze basement, searching for files on any prisoners, when I heard ze loudest noise I 'ad 'eard in my life." He explained how one exit to the basement was not touched, and how the front half of RED was gone, causing the building to crash on itself. "everyone was dead."

"Jou knew zis Sniper?" Christophe asked, eyeing the gentleman curiously. "'ow zo?"

"I am from Coldfront, in ze north." He answered. Madeline reminded Christophe that the Sniper was stationed there before 2Fort, after Viaduct. "I 'ad received zat box in my mail at ze base. 'is letter to moi was short, "BLU blew up 2fort. Everyone is dead. I'm dying. Get this box to Madeline from 2Fort." and zo, while I was in BLU before it was destroyed, I found jour file, an' zat was all I needed to get jour name. An' zen it wasn't much more work to find jou."

"You went through a personal file?" Madeline asked. "Don't tell me BLU is paying you to find me to kill me, and giving me this letter anyways is your sick joke."

"Non, non, I would never! Zis was a dear friend of mine, an' zis was 'is dying wish. Zank jou for inviting me inside, but I must go. Many more odd jobs zis retired mercenary must do. Christophe, would jou go back into zis business? I saw 'ow jou 'andled zat knife."

"Non, merci." He smiled, and lit a cigarette, and handed one unlit to their fellow ex-BLU. "I 'ad enough, ze job was fine, when I was young. But now, I cannot risk BLU finding me, zey will find I an' my wife. All zis would be for naught, I am zorry, it is not worth it, mon ami."

"Appelez-moi, if jou ever change jour mind." The gentleman slipped him a card, and showed himself to the door. Christophe slipped the paper into a pocket, and looked at Madeline, watching her pack the hat and letter back into the box.

"Go get lunch, amour," She said, smiling. "I'll put this somewhere safe, in our room."

"I'll take some to Rousseau, mon cher." He dissapeared into the kitchen, as she ascended the stairs. After pouring the food she made onto two plates, he grabbed one in each hand and exited, entering a back room, the white ceiling reflecting the water, and shades down on two of the three glass walls, sunlight warming the water in the pool. "Ey, Rousseau, still enjoying _my_ pool?"

The water broke as the pale white and gray skinned figure burst from the water, gray eyes looking at him as he slicked back the black hair on his head, a few grays showing. "Of course, mon ami. Is zat ze...?"

"Lunch. Lunch, Rousseau." Christophe reminded him. "Still 'aving problems with remembering words?" He put one plate by the edge of the pool, before taking a seat nearby.

"I do not think I will ever remember." Rousseau said, gripping a spoon in one hand. "It 'as been years, an' I still forget such easy words."

"Do not push too 'ard, Rousseau, jou 'ave 'ad a traumatic life, even for a spy." Christophe began eating his own food. "BLU did several cruel things to jou."

"An' from ze zound of it, I am glad I do not remember much."

"Jou still 'ave nightmares, Rousseau."

"Because I still remember zome."

"Hm. At least jou know if jou like or dislike zomething, jou know what things are, jou just do not remember words."

"Oui, oui." Rousseau returned to finishing off his plate, as Madeline walked in, apron missing.

"Hello, loves." She occupied the chair next to Christophe. "How's the food?"

"Amazing quality, as always, mon cher." He kissed her cheekbone lightly, as she started to eat her own food.

"Madeline, who was zat?" Rousseau asked, looking at her from the water.

"Who? Oh, the guest we had?" She asked. He nodded, grinning a little. "He had a package for me, from a friend of ours."

"What was in it?" Madeline took a minute to think, what should she tell him.

"It...it was a gift from a friend. You remember a few years ago, when we left BLU? And came here to France?" She asked him. Rousseau nodded, remembering waking up in France. "Well, if it wasn't for our friends, we probably wouldn't have gotten out alive."

"Is 'e going to visit soon? If 'e just sent jou mail, is 'e planning on visiting?" Rousseau cocked his head to the side a little.

After a moment of silence, Christophe explained as well as he could that three men, himself being one of them, came to rescue him and Madeline, but sadly, the other two men had died doing what they needed to do to save the rest. Rousseau held his head with one hand, trying to remember a face he never saw.

"Zomeone...zomeone whom I never saw died to save me an' Madeline." He sighed. "An', An' zat Medic, zat man died too?"

Madeline spent quite some time comforting Rousseau, reassuring him that they knew what would happen, and they cared enough about the both of them to follow through with it, even though it meant their deaths. After the sun set, Madeline suggested he rest, and Rousseau retreated to the bottom of the tiled pool for the night.


End file.
